THE NEW YORK TIMES  November 7, 1999, Sunday THE CITY WEEKLY DESK NEW YORKERS & CO.; When New York Is on the End of the Line By COREY KILGANNON (NYT) 1212 words JORDAN TAYLER had breezed through the training classes on diction and questioning techniques and was about to earn her headset as a pollster at Teleforce Research Group, a national telephone polling company in Fargo, N.D. But there was one last trial in her two-week training session. She had to call a New Yorker. ''He just kept being real abrupt and refused to answer any questions, totally not cooperating with the survey,'' she said. ''He was cursing all over the place, making rude comments like 'Get a real job.' '' Ms. Forseen was actually talking to a trainer in the next room, armed with a fake New York accent, an idea of New York attitude and a training script based on past company interviews with real New Yorkers. ''Once I started working, it was even worse,'' she said. A student at North Dakota State University, Ms. Forseen, 24, has never been to New York. After a year of calling here, she does not plan to visit anytime soon. Market Research Specialists and pollsters are used to rude receptions, but to many New York is a cold caller's nightmare. Those in the business say New Yorkers are rarely home, and often screen calls when they are. When they do pick up, they often say, and not always politely, that they are on another call or on the way out the door. Many companies pay employees more for dialing New York City. At Teleforce, only 40 of 220 employees are skilled enough to handle calls in the toughest markets like New York city numbers, said the company's owner, Linda Finch. And while most Teleforce callers earn around $10 an hour, those who dial into New York make about $3.50 extra, Ms. Finch said. The research specialists at Teleforce Research Group are market and political research professionals. . . . ''New Yorkers work longer hours and have less time to handle phone calls, so you better have something worthwhile and have some quick numbers, or forget about it.'' Ms. Finch agreed. ''In New York City, you don't get many second chances,'' she said. ''All New York City people think they're movie stars, and they're just about as difficult to get a hold of.'' She added, ''Where someone from the Midwest says, 'Honey, I just don't have the time,' a New Yorker would say, 'Get a life.' '' Ms. Finch says she tells callers who work for her not to chat with or speak casually to New Yorkers . . .            DIRECT MAGAZINE December 1999 Tough Town For Talking They sneer. They jeer. They say things like 'Why don't you get a real job?' Hanging up can be the kindest thing New Yorkers do to market research specialists and pollsters. One man with caller ID even called a poll-taking company back pretending to be a detective and kept them on the line for 50 minutes gathering information about their firm. How much harder is it to reach New Yorkers than people in other areas of the country? 'ninety five percent harder and that's no exaggeration,' reports Linda Finch, president of national polling company Teleforce Research Group, Fargo ND. 'three in 55 will answer. Basically, in the rest of the country, it's one in six.' That's why pollsters who persuade residents of Gotham to spill get combat pay. Across the industry, they receive $3 more an hour than market research specialists who call other regions.   Finch says that it's not that New Yorkers are nasty, just that they don't have a New York minute. 'They are preoccupied with themselves and don't have time for this,' she explains ' they work a lot. Family people want to spend every spare minute away from work with their families.' Single people are frequently out. The best time to reach singles is saturday morning; family folk respond best on sunday, Finch has learned.   Poll takers at Teleforce who will be calling the city get special training. Finch provides them two or three 'fallback statements' for each of the brush-offs. For instance, in response to 'why don't you get a real job?' Teleforce staffers may say, "sir [or ma'am] this is a real job and I like talking to good Americans such as yourself. I especially enjoy the fact that I'm not selling or fundraising and I'm sure you have the time to give me your opinion.'   Plus, trainees do role-playing in which they undergo rejection after rejection from 'typical' New Yorkers. Finch teaches staffers that these city dwellers are merely 'more abrupt' than people in other regions 'They don't beat around the bush; they are very direct,' she says.   Trainees who can absorb the barbs get the New York beat. Often, Finch says, they are older - between 55 and 75 - people who have the life experience not to take abruptness personally. ' New Yorkers seem to trust older people,' she adds.   Although New Yorkers are the coldest, residents of  California and Florida aren't easy to warm up either, Finch claims.   It's very different elsewhere. A resident of North Dakota, for example, is not only friendly, but frequently excited to get a call from a pollster.   'They might say, 'Oh, no one's ever called me for my opinion. I can't believe    you actually called me!' ' Finch says.