Telemarketing & The Person with the BAD Attitude!

Art PostVIP 2/11/1510:43 PM

There was a recent thread on LinkedIn from an Executive from a Major Manufacturer that I took exception to.

In that thread (post), the LinkedIn user was complaining because they had downloaded a white paper from a web site. In that thread, the user was whining because a rep from that companies web site had called eight times (I'm not sure of the time frame for those calls) and then today left another message that included "I hope you can appreciate my professional persistence" blah, blah, blah. The Exec then when on to state, "I know who your are, I read the white paper, I know where to find you, and I've seen your web site". Then stating your calls are a "turn off".

WOW, all of this coming from a person who works for a major copier company where most, if not all of the sales people rely on making follow up calls to end users and prospects.

After all the Linkedin user did enter their information to download the whitepaper, did they not think they were going to be contacted via email or phone. Nothing is FREE, the web site is giving you the FREE white paper so that they can keep your data in hopes that they may be able to sell you something one day.

Personally, I take exception to people who complain about the sales call and then never do anything to communicate with the person that is trying to contact them. Maybe, just one time you pick up the phone, call the rep back or God forbid you return an email and professionally state that you are not interested at this time and will keep that company in mind when you have a need. Doing something like this, would have stopped the additional calls, and or emails. It would have taking ten seconds to communicate with that rep.

So what is the LinkedIn user to do if they don't want a phone call or email. Of course you could put in a bogus phone number, or better yet, when it comes to entering your name try this.

First name: Don't

Last Name: Calloremailme.

I would get the hint from just seeing that, but please have a heart for the person that's calling and pick up the phone, or email them back and tell them you're not interested.

After 34 fours years of making calls, I really believe that there are some people that are afraid to talk with me because they are afraid I might sell them something against their will. Right, I'm going to twist your arm or not leave your office until you sign on the dotted line. Funny, very funny!

One more point

Now, if all of those calls were placed in the period of a couple of days or a week, then I'd have to agree that this would be over the top and the user has a righteous beef.

-=Good Selling=-

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txeagle24Maven

I agree to a certain extent, Art, but at the same time, our industry has a deservedly bad reputation for being overly-persistent in efforts to reach prospects. The way in which people evaluate products, services, vendors, etc. has completely changed due to the wealth of information that is available online. Many buyers now want to know what they want (especially in up & down the street accounts) before they ever agree to talk to a salesperson. There are only so many hours in a day, & because of our industry's over-emphasis on dials/touches, many buyers receive an obnoxious number of calls from reps at 30+ companies in a given market on an almost daily basis JUST FROM OUR INDUSTRY. Add to that the calls they receive from ISP's, phone vendors, storage vendors, software vendors, etc, & it becomes overwhelming.

It's time for our industry to take a different approach when it comes to gaining entry into accounts instead of simply calling & emailing over & over again until we finally get a bite. If we want to be taken seriously as trusted advisers by today's buyers, we have to position ourselves as thought leaders in our areas of expertise via our websites, content, events, social media & sprinkle in traditional prospecting methods versus relying solely on outbound bludgeoning via telephone & email. Dealers have to be willing to invest in outside marketing resources to help them make this transition, & the more progressive ones will look outside of the realm of what the BTA, SDG, et al say is the way to go.

2/12/159:18 AM

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