October 1, 2008
Stupid Tricks Salespeople Play
Posted by Kevin | Print This Article
David Patt has been on a tear about returning phone calls, and he’s absolutely right. But it made me think of the one kind of phone call that I almost never return: sales calls. Every day I get 20-30 voicemails and almost all of them are cold calls from salespeople. This is why it is next to impossible to get me on my direct dial. If I answered my phone every time it rang, I’d spend all day being rude to salespeople, and my karma has been damaged enough.
I have nothing against salespeople. I employ salespeople. They’re good folks. The problem is that there are some salespeople — a minority, I think — who employ such questionable tactics that they manage to tarnish all salespeople while also ensuring that their company gets less business. Here are some of the tactics that have been employed over my phone lines.
“I’m returning your call.” A couple people in our office got hit with these recently. It’s an infuriating lie. It’s the nature of our business that we make a lot of calls, and it’s always possible that we left a message for someone and don’t recall it. Calling back to receive an unexpected sales pitch means the company represented has been duly noted and will never get our business.
Keep calling different people in the organization in hopes of getting a different answer. I guess these folks must think we’re a really big organization with lots of fortress-walled cubicles. Once you’ve heard from anyone in our organization, trust me, by the time you reach someone else’s number, they’ve already got yours.
Trying to get a response by dropping the CEO’s name, or, worse, an officer or volunteer leader’s name. You think it gets you an “in” but it only ensures you remain “out.”
“I’m calling to update your contact information in our database.” We have a website. Plus, you obviously have my phone number. Plus, my voicemail message plainly states my email address (and strongly implies that it is the preferred method of communication). What more do you need?
“We spoke a year ago and you asked me to check back with you now about your needs.” No, we didn’t. Or if by some chance we did, I was probably lying to get you off the phone because I wasn’t interested.
“I’m calling to offer an exciting service or product that a mere 10-second perusal of your website would make clear that you don’t need.” ‘Nuff said.
(UPDATE: And while we’re on this subject, be sure to check out Sue Pelletier’s recent phone conversation in Bizarro world.)
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- Pingback by Those Who Can, Do — And They’re the Ones I Want to Meet on October 28, 2008 @ 7:03 pm
Since I resemble the salesman you talk about in 2 ways (I try to sell my own consulting firm within the association industry, and we sell ads, exhibits and sponsorships for some of our association clients) I had to join this conversation. It is my philosophy that the sales process has to be about respect and relationships. If you are ever deceitful to your prospects all it will do is hurt you in the long run.
In my 2 roles I have both a regional prospect base (for my consulting firm since most of my clients are in the DC metro area) and a national prospect base (most of my clients are national organizations). I utilize a highly participatory, completely face to face and referral driven strategy for my own business because I am able to. I try to do the same for my clients but obviously it is more difficult due to the geographical barriers. That said, we keep our messages appropriate and professional and use regular contact and respectful contact to form the long distant relationships we are unable to form in person.
Kevin, what kind of voice mail messages are these sales people leaving you when you don’t answer their calls? Are they on target? Do they tell you how the service or product they are selling would benefit you or your organization? If not I am not surprised you do not return any calls. If they did tell you how the product or service would benefit you and it got your attention would you call them back? I bet the likelihood is much higher.
Sales people do have limited time and resources in any given day so they probably cannot market on as much of a one to one basis as they would like. That still does not give them permission to be unprofessional or waste prospects time because they have not done the research needed to talk to prospects appropriately.
Unfortunately underhanded and under prepared selling has been going on forever and has now tarnished all salespeople. I was actually recently speaking with someone in the association space who has a lot of contact with CEO level association folks who still feel that there are too many vendors and consultants in the industry and that they don’t think they should be there. If a salesperson is doing his or her job right they should be beneficial to the industry in which they sell, not the opposite.
Scott, thanks for the comment. In response to your question, “If they did tell you how the product or service would benefit you and it got your attention would you call them back?”, the answer has to be an honest, “No, pretty much never.” I’ve never bought anything just because someone called me and made me think, “Hmm, that sounds interesting.” Typically, it’s only when I have already decided that I need a particular service or product that I seek out vendors.
However, I have purchased products I hadn’t considered before solely because of an email. It may just be the way I’m wired. I’m far more likely to read your email than I am to speak with you on the phone. (Though still, to be honest, not all THAT likely.) And I have also hired vendors that I met initially at a tradeshow.
In response to your last paragraph, I’m not sure I agree that there are too many vendors in the association space, in general. But I do think that there are far too many consultants.
I guess it is a simple supply and demand situation. If associations continue looking to hire consultants for their unique expertise there will continue to be more and more in the association space.
I also get calls from salespeople who lie or misrepresent themselves. Telecommunication companies are the worst. They want to talk to you about your AT&T service but they never say who they work for.
Or the print shops that want to talk about “records management.”
I make some sales calls, too (but association execs don’t respond well to them) and I’m always to the point and truthful.
You shouldn’t try to trick someone into buying your product.
Sure, Scott, it’s easy enough to say “supply and demand” — and I think you’re absolutely right.
But for a moment, consider:
1) ASAE’s primary networking vehicle, the listserves, represent conversations dominated primarily by consultants, or at least the ones I occasionally follow are.
2) More consultants deliver educational presentations at professional conferences than association executives (see my post tabulating annual meeting workshop slots in August).
3) Even the tiny little association blogging world, which is certainly of far less influence and interest than the first two points, is comprised primarily of consultants.
I’m not saying that consultants are bad. I hire them on the rare occasion, and there are some, like Kevin Whorton, that I don’t hire but for whom I have great respect.
And I’m not saying that consultants shouldn’t be doing any of those things I mention.
I’m just saying that when you put all of this together, and you pay attention to what’s going on in “the association space,” it becomes quite clear that consultants play an unusually large and growing role in that space, for better or worse.
Is this because consultants are aggressive and need to eat and therefore do a better job of getting their name out there? Probably.
Or is it because there’s some sort of fundamental and growing weakness in the association management field that doesn’t bode well for the industry’s future? Maybe.
Maybe it’s both.
Hey, Kevin, you are right about the preponderance of consultants in both of the venues you address. However, some of them are also Executive Directors - for free-standing organizations or AMCs. Others hold association staff positions but speak and/or consult on the side.
In my other role, as an association CEO, I often have difficulty recruiting practitioners to present at conferences but have no trouble getting consultants.
I’ve come to realize that consultants have practical knowledge about far more association situations than do CEOs because they have worked with so many more associations.
As long as they stick to the subject and refrain from marketing their companies (their presence is marketing enough) the information they share can be very beneficial.