Earl Jones: In His Own Words
During his bankruptcy proceedings in December 2009, Earl Jones was questioned in a deposition. In this excerpt, taken from the official court transcript, Jones describes his relationship with his clients.
...Can you tell the Court - you
described what your business was. Can you tell the Court how you would go about soliciting clients for your business?
Never solicited clients. Every one of my clients came in as a referral. I never knocked on doors. I never called cold calls, period.
And did you ever go to various funerals of people?
No.
You never went to any funerals.
Well, if a client died, but, no, I didn't chase ambulances around or - if that's what you're referring to, no.
Alright, so, according to you, all your clients came by referral.
Strictly referrals, yeah.
Strictly by referrals.
Yeah.
Would you ever, on a social basis, go out with clients or invite them to your home?
Sure, I would - you know, I was invited out for lunch or - with clients. Inviting clients to my home, I can't recall. Certainly, if it was, like I can't recall.
You can't recall.
No, you know, a particular client inviting to the house for business or anything of this nature; if it was, it was strictly social.
Most of the clients that we've talked to seem to say that they had a very friendly relationship with you, that, in certain instances, they considered you as part of their family. Can you tell the Court how you think that feeling would have been developed?
It's one of the most difficult situations. It's just me, that my personality likes to help people. It - and, quite frankly, I knew most of my clients better than their kids knew them, and did more for them than their kids and their families. It doesn't make me any better person, but that's the type of person you're looking at.
So, for the most part, your clients were people that you knew.
They were people that were recommended to me and people that I knew, some of them, yeah, but they were recommended to me. They weren't --
And --
Solicited. I never called and said, you know, come in and I'll do this or --
There's nothing --
No.
Wrong with soliciting.
I know. I know, but I just --
Okay --
But I --
I'm not trying to say that there is, okay. And as you said, most of them were friends or referred by friends, and there was family as well --
From client to client.
Client to client, and they had a tremendous amount of faith in you.
Yes.
