WORKING FOR AN ESCORT SERVICE

by The Working Girl


It's the Working Girl, here again to talk to you about another facet of sex-for-money: the escort service. Many women who choose prostitution choose to work for an escort service. If you choose the service wisely and are aware of your own responsibilities, it can provide a positive working experience. Let's go through the process of selecting an agency.

Step one - Shopping for a service. Get all the local publications where sexual services are advertised, and get the yellow pages. If you can, look at old yellow pages as well - what you are checking for is how long a service has been in business. I myself would not work for a service that did not have a listing in the yellow pages under Escorts. There are a lot of fly-by-night services around and they are less likely to really care about either you or their clientele. So check the phone book, and compare it to ads you might see in periodicals. I always avoided services that were blatantly sexual in their ads - it sets up a certain mindset in the client - "I can say or do anything to this girl..." Ads that are tasteful send a different message: "I'd better be nice..." So you are looking for longevity, and you are looking to see what kind of image they are giving the client. The other place to check, if you have access to the web, is a site called the World Sex Guide. This site is all posts about sex services from clients or would-be clients, and is one way to see who is giving good customer service. It's very interesting - check it out.

Step two - Call the service at at time that many services are closed - morning or early afternoon. They should have a voicemail or machine - anyone who doesn't isn't very professional. What does the outgoing message say? Does it sound like a sleazy phone-sex line? Cross them off your list. The message should be friendly and even flirty, but tasteful. You can leave a message, but be prepared to call back regardless. Many escort services aren't very good about calling women back - it seems to be universal.

Step three - Talking to the service. Be prepared to talk about what sex work experience you have without actually saying you have had sex for money or that you expect to have sex for money if you work for this service. If you talk openly about sex, they will likely think you are a cop - or extremely indiscreet. If they talk openly about sex, rethink working for them - if they will say this to you, they will say it to anyone, and that's how people get busted.

They will ask you what you look like, including your age, weight, height, measurements, hair and eye color. Tell the truth - they are going to see you eventually, and you are just wasting time if you lie. Don't be afraid to sell it a little - "My hair is really silky and I have great legs" - but if they aren't looking for new workers, don't try to talk them into it.

Note: In my opinion, the best services have phones that are answered by one person and one person only, and that person is a woman. I know women who have worked for services with different phone people, and who have worked for men, but I feel that is a less desirable situation. Multiple phone people make the clients feel less connected than someone who has called a number of times and developed a rapport with the phone person. And even the nicest men cannot really understand what it is like to be a woman doing this job. So ask about who answers the phones.

The person on the phone should be pleasant and reasonable - if they are not respectful at this atage, it's not going to get any better. They will ask you if you have a car - and you must have a car; no good agency will drive you, only sleazy ones. You also need a home phone you can be called at, a beeper and preferably a cell phone as well. Most agencies will let you work for a little while before asking you to invest in a cell phone if you don't already have one.

They are probably going to want you to commit to working at least three nights a week. I have never figured out why this is so important to most escort services, but it is. There are a lot of flaky and unreliable people in the world and some of them work for escort services, so I assume they are trying to establish some stability and impress upon you that you need to be professional and responsible. It can be worth going along with their rules for a while until you demonstrate your trustworthiness - once they get to know you, you can frequently get what you want in terms of scheduling, et cetera.

They may also discuss a deposit. I can understand not wanting to be ripped off, but I am not in favor of working for a company that demands you put down a deposit before they will send you on a call (they are afraid you will tke the money and vanish without giving them their cut). This is something you can decide for yourself, however. OK, now here is a big thing to watch out for - NEVER work for a service that is willing to send you out on a call sight unseen!! This is SOOOO unprofessional, and anyone who cares so little about their clientele will not care about you either. They should always meet you for an interview. The best services I have worked for met me in a restaurant or a nice quiet bar. Dress like you would on a call (more on that in a minute). At this point, there may be some more open talk about sex, but let them initiate it. They should tell you what their hours are, what areas they service, what the rates are and what the fee split is. They may also tell you about how many girls they have - and beware of services that have more than eight - one person cannot keep track of eight people at a time, which means you won't get as many calls or they don't keep good tabs on where you are, which is bad.

If you don't like the person, don't work for them. You will have to trust the person answering the phone or else you will not be comfortable going on the calls. You should feel that the person is concerned about your safety and security. So, let's assume that everything is good, you have found a service you like, and it's your first night on call. Be ready when you said you would - you don't have to sit around in full drag, but be able to leave the house in 20 minutes or less. When the phone rings, you should be given the following info: the client's full name, if he has used the service before, and where he is (if it is a private home, you may be given his phone number to call and get directions). As a new worker, you should not be sent to a new client on your first call - more likely the phone person will send you to a regular client who will call back to the service after you leave to give you a review. Some services want you to then call the client to say hi, and tell them you are on your way. Some don't - it varies.

What to wear: Well, as outrageously as I may dress in my personal life, I think it's best to be understated on the job. Think of it in terms of cues - he already knows you are a prostitute when you arrive, so that is cueing his behavior. Balancing the "bad girl" image with a "nice girl" message of the subtle dress or suit makes him more likely to treat you like a lady - which is what you want. So think expensive looking, classy, subtly sexy dresses, and skirts. I tend not to wear pants unless I know the client well and know he is OK with that. Underneath, I wear pretty, matched lingerie, particularly with garter belts or thigh-high stockings. Clients love that. How to have sex with the client is a whole article in and of itself - look for that in the next issue.

You should be told to call in to the service when you arrive, and they should ask you if everything is OK. The service should also call you when it is time to leave unless you call first to say you are leaving. If it is a new client, you may be told to check his ID, and to ask to see a plane ticket, et cetera, to "make sure" he is not a cop. There is a lot of gossip and conventional wisdom about how to tell if someone is a cop, and the fact is there is no absolutely foolproof way. Be very wary of someone who says, "So, you are gonna have sex with me if I give you this money, right?" Questions like that are red flags - I have had real clients say things like that to me, but be careful of anyone who questions you in such blunt terms. You can give a vague answer "Oh darlin', we are going to get along just fine, don't you worry!" But be careful and always trust your instincts. One of my tricks is to not take the money up front if I don't know the guy - yes, you stand a slight chance of getting stiffed, but it would be much harder to make a case against you if you did not ask for or accept money. And frankly, I do better with tips when I get paid afterwards.

Speaking of pay - rates vary from city to city. Here in Seattle it's running from around 150 per hour to 180 - be prepared to pay the service 60 or 70 dollars of that. You will get tipped sometimes, other times you won't. No good agency should take any part of any tip you get. The average on calls per night is from one to three, depending on how busy it is. There will be nights when you don't get any. If you don't get a call three nights in a row, talk to the service. Is it unusually slow? Is there anything wrong with your job performance? Don't be angry or abusive, though - if the phones aren't ringing much on a particular night, there is nothing the service can do to make them.

One book you might read to give you more information about escort services is called Mayflower Madam by a woman named Sydney Biddle Barrows. She ran a service in New York and this is her tell-all book. I think she has prettied things up a bit in her book, but it has a lot of good tips for escorts. I see it in both new and used bookstores all the time.

Working for a good service that treats you well and has a good clientele is one of the best ways I know of to be a prostitute. Just remember - never do anything that makes you feel bad. It's up to you to know your limits and maintain your emotional and physical boundaries. Take care of yourself first and foremost - you can always make more money another night. Sex work can be draining - it's important to nurture yourself.

See you next time - so long from the Working Girl......