In my life, I've witnessed three elite salespeople at work

The best salesman I ever met was peddling boat tour tickets. He wore the same suit and flip-flops every day, visibly messy, like he never heard about ironing even as a concept.

On a first look, you'd probably guess he was either a down on his luck businessman or a drunkard, but if you spent 5 minutes observing him sell, you'd think he fits the definition of a sleazy salesman.

Yet damn, that man could sell. Even the customers that ignored everyone would fall for his traps. He did this long enough that he recognised the type of customer almost immediately and could just "vibe shift" to their vibes.

From "Hey guys, you look hungry, have you had lunch yet?" to just "Hey, welcome!" - he'd slowly reel them in and either he'd hook them now, or redirect them to a restaurant/bar/shop he had an affiliate deal with and get some commission.

While none of the things he was peddling were bad, from the local perspective it felt like he was scamming these people and they were poor innocent tourists. But after a few talks with him, figured out it wasn't like that at all - his trick was he'd make them feel like they "know an insider", someone who can recommend them to good stuff and not "touristy" stuff.

And he would be that guy for them - he'd get them local wine, local honey, oils, meats, anything. He'd set them up a dinner or help them rent a car. He'd call up boat owners and get them private cruises. Basically, he'd be their "concierge". The boat tours were just a way to hook new customers in, and he'd both be getting a kickback from the owners and a tip from the customers. He'd basically be making everyone happy, making the tourists experience amazing and bringing a lot of money to small local businesses, while earning a nice comission in the process. Even tho I've later worked with everyone from door-to-dooor all the way to high ranking MAG7 salesbros, this one was the least sleazy of them all.

Unfortunately, the man was a heavy gambler, which would mean he'd lose all his money quite fast and be extra motivated to work again.

As to why the phone company call: Because they need you to approve the move to a new plan. At least previously, when contracts where 12 months, forcing customers to a new plan would immediately release the customer allowing then you move their number to a competitor. Given that most contracts now are just month to month, if that, it's only expedite the porting of contracts. My old employer, a telco, wanted my grandfather to move from a landline and a basically free service, to a cell phone and a contract where they could actually make a profit on him. It took them years and a pretty large (temporary) discounts to get him (and others obviously) to move his number, so they could shutdown their landline service.

Telcos hate losing customers for two reasons. Firstly it takes over a year to turn a profit on a customer, if you factor in cost of acquiring the customer. Secondly, the different phone companies meet up a few times a year and compare number and figure out how much each should pay to have the other companies customers call their customers. If you have the most customer, you get the most money. (Not sure how this works across the global).

It was illegal and the reason for that regulation is to prevent exactly what author was doing.