I get about half a dozen telemarketing calls per day and I don't take any of them unless they slip by my amazing gatekeeper. I suppose this is ironic because my firm is in the business of managing channel partner programs for technology companies -- work we do mostly over the phone! Thousands of times per day our valiant front line team members depend on the kindness of the gatekeeper to patch them through to the decision maker. Granted, most of the calls we make are to channel partners with established business partnerships with our clients, but ironic nonetheless.
The other day a slippery guy from New York got past Kim by saying I was expecting his call. She checked with me first, and I did not recognize his name, but she and I agreed to let him through. The first thing I asked him was how we met -- we hadn't. I then asked how I could have been expecting his call -- there was no way I could have. I then asked him if he had lied to Kim. He said that he did in order to get past her.
Turns out he was an investment manager. He wanted me to trust him with my investments. I suspect he wanted me to do that shortly after I forgot that he lied to my gatekeeper. As you can imagine, the call ended rather abruptly.
Never lie to the gatekeeper. If you have something valuable to talk about sell it on its merits. If not, don't call.