Spamming marketers is a guaranteed way to fail at sales. But here’s a marketing tip for those who want to succeed.
By now most of my readers know I have a “thing” about bad sales calls. Believe me, I know that making cold calls is a hard job. But if it is your job to make them, does that mean that basic marketing skills and common courtesy have to take a back seat? I don’t think so.
A similar principle has been proven to me recently, as one company has repeatedly sent me the same boring and irrelevant email weekly. (I have noticed that other companies use this tactic too.) The company changes the subject line a little by adding some text that says basically, “you didn’t respond to our last message.” They seem to think that I will respond if they add that small, impolite nudge to the subject line of their second and third emails. As if I am going to use their services just because they were creative enough to change the subject line a little tiny bit. Good luck with that.
Relationships Are Key
Smart and successful marketers all know that relationships, respect and value “win the day” and get customers to respond and maybe even start a conversation or buy. Why do some companies think using guilt (because I didn’t respond) is going to help generate a positive response? Guys, I didn’t respond because your first, second, and third etc. emails were all garbage. You can try guilt with me, but it doesn’t work with people I know, so it certainly isn’t going to work with you.
Here is a sales process you might try. This will work better than the approach I describe above.
- Stop spamming marketers. We know better and won’t respond.
- Build a relationship based on trust and mutual goals.
- Add value to that relationship through education, ideas and insights.
- Don’t assume because there is a relationship, I have a need for what you are selling.
- When I am ready, I will ask for more information about your products and services.
If you follow this path it will more than likely lead to a sale or at least the start of the sales process.
So please stop cold calling and spamming marketers. We have jobs that require our attention as we help our companies grow, and you can do better.
What sales processes do you think work best? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
