The Top 10 Laziest Sales Tactics

The amount of "lameness" on the part of sales people (and some marketers) has now come to a point that I think a public flogging is in order. To those Michael Scott’s of the world (and I like Michael), know that we are on to you. The following tactics have never, and will never, produce a lead.

1. Filling out a company's contact form on the website with ”contact me if you need…” Yep, I’ll get right on that.

Mike, for example, was able to jam an entire spam email onto our company contact form...impressive.  Sure, I will take the time to read the entire message box and get back to you. 

But wait, sensing that I might not take him seriously, he submits the form again 2 minutes later.

2. Sending an email blast with the generic intro of "Dear Sir." Forget everything you've learned about 1 to 1 marketing, personalization, relevancy, this just might work.  Just get a list, and go.  

3. Even better, the telemarketing version of the "no effort" approach.  Cold calling and asking; “can you please tell me who handles…”  Instead of you doing your job, you're now asking me to do it for you -- beautiful. 

4. Some telemarketers have taken it to a whole new level. Love the folks who leave a message without saying why they are calling, but then ask you to call them back. And my personal favorite -- the rep who invented the "I'm returning your call..."   It's like the guy you knew in college that spent hours figuring out how to cheat for a test, instead of using the time to study.

5. Advertising your services in the comment section of a blog.  Let's take Jeff D, he didn't even try to hide it in a link.  He went straight for the kill.                

It's not all bad because he does give me "props" at the end of the ad..."I like your information it is helpful to me."  Mmm, is it helpful because it gives you an opportunity to display spam?   Apparently so, because Jeff D comes back 6 days later, this time pimping new services, Website design and development.  Notice I get no "props" this time.  Pretty tricky changing the name of the company, almost didn't catch him.  

To Jeff D, and all the other spammers, know that bloggers decide whether or not to post your comments.  The comments above never made it public, I saved them for my own personal enjoyment, and this blog post.   Also, know that Blogspot, as well as other platforms, now have enable spam filters.  Good luck on future postings. 

6. Posting a discussion within a Linked-in group that isn’t a discussion, but rather, an advertisement for your company…it’s not a discussion; it’s spam, and it’s annoying.

Take Mr. Gupta for example, at Web Box Office. He's advertising "Learn the secrets to success with attendee-funded webinars." Sounds good, huh. Guess who's paying for the webinar...you are, Mr. attendee, if you register.

7. Using the yellow pages as your prospect database. I’m not kidding, people are still using it. Just wait until they find out about the internet.

8. Offering something FREE, unless it is truly FREE.  Taking a credit card number so you can start billing a customer after a "free" trial is not free.  This is not selling, it's scamming.   There are rules, some people call them laws, governing this practice.  See FreeCredit Report.com for an example of how not to do it.   

9. Any email coming from Nigeria, or any other country, offering a fortune if you could just help them  by giving them your social security number, bank account number, etc.  To good to be true, something for nothing?  Any of this ringing a bell?  Ok, maybe I'm a little bitter because I'm still waiting for my $1M from the British Lottery Authority.

10.  Actually, couldn't think of a 10th, but I'm sure there's one or more out there.  I'd love to hear your experiences.  Add your "Top 10" story in the comment section, but please easy on the spam.  Jeff D takes up a lot of my time.      

I know that times are tough, but with the amount of information now available in the public domain, there is just no excuse for these tactics other than…just plain laziness.  C’mon guys, kick it up a notch!
If not, I'll be out with the Top 10 sequel or maybe a FREE webinar.  

Social CRM - "Many to One" Marketing...or is it Sales?

Social Relationship Management and Social CRM are terms that are now being thrown around for new technology platforms that are enabling multichannel execution.  Companies like Lithium Technologies have created platforms that allow companies to run hosted communities, listen across a variety of social media channels, and manage content to and from social networks in one integrate tool.

While marketing has steadily evolved from "one to many", to "one to one", Social CRM is now creating the opportunity for "many to one."  For example, a customer tweets a question about a product (e.g. is it worth the money) on Twitter, a customer advocate brings that comment into a company's online forum where another customer answers it.  The customers response to the question is then tweeted by the company to promote sales of the product.

The promise of Web 2.0 has always been about customers selling to customers.  New Social CRM tools are now enabling that by consolidating platforms.  But this has the potential to raise issues over who gets credit for the sale.    If the true ROI on social media is revenue, which many research studies are now suggesting, then who gets credit for the sale by a customer to a customer?   Does marketing get credit for creating the customer advocate who convinced the customer to buy or does the sales person who "owns" the customer?   And what about the customer who made the sale...what do they get?

One thing is certain: social media is blurring the line between sales and marketing interactions and dialogues.   And given that, we may have to rethink our traditional views of customer coverage and relationship management.   Perhaps in the future, marketing will be responsible for managing customers online relationships, and sales for the offline experience.

Someone call HR and give them the heads up.  Territory planning, revenue crediting and roles and responsibilities might need a refresh soon.

Partner Marketing Model Webcast

On June 16th, I hosted a live webcast along with Bob Ray, President of GyroHSR's San Francisco office. The theme of the webcast centered on how new technology trends, like the Cloud, and shifting partner business models are opening the door for vendors to redefine the partner relationships.
Other highlights include:

• Tech trends have shifted the focus of executives, and the recession has caused customers to be more cost conscious
• A new focus on professional services/managed services has caused a longer sales process which means reps and partners need help selling.   
• The average ramp time for a productive IT sales rep has gone from 7 to 10 months
• Generally, IT execs do not feel sales reps UNDERSTAND their business
• Engagement through data sharing, pre-packaged marketing solutions, and program planning with partners are ways to create more mindshare.

The rehearsal presentation was recorded and is now available OnDemand Presentation.  
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