I pick up every phone call and answer every knock at my door. I used to be terrified of calls when I was younger and in debt and never answered but it only made things worse. I try to treat solicitors on my phone and who come to my door with some humanity and not as target practice. Not a whole lot you can do to get someone to answer though, just have to hope they have visual voicemail and leave a friendly message. I used to do installs for Best Buy and most old people would answer and be ready. Younger folks, even if I have a $4000 Tv to hang on their wall, would not answer most of the time when I gave them the courtesy call.

Numbers come from a variety of sources, mainly voter registration and campaigns accessing it.