….is Lead Generation of interest to your company?

Everyday, at least one copy of the following email arrives in my junk mail folder.  It is never addressed to me, though my email address is widely available.  It’s always addressed to other employees in my company:  Mr. Info@… or Ms. Contact_Me@… or Ms. Enroll@…  never one addressed to dabrock@……   It’s always from “Bob.”   The email is the same, day in, day out, week after week:

Subject:   ….is Lead Generation of interest to your company?

…….no harm in asking.

 I’m a Telemarketing Lead-Generator…I work out of my home in Pennsylvania. …I use the phone to set appointments……I use the phone to determine decision factors in an organization… 

…As I call I upgrade my client’s contact list to keep that list current.  I do not sell..(((.that’s not true…)))  I sell only one thing and that is an appointment or whatever my client wants me to accomplish over that phone to his/her prospects on that list..

_______________________________

I exist only because of time and – this is a big one-…………….Call Reluctance.  My clients do not have the time to use the phone continually to make appointments or to do various screening objectives necessary for a continual growth of their organization. I assume these phone tasks.  But…and this is the rub…  Most organizations or, I should say, individuals, have a very big reluctance (some call it fear) to pick up the phone and cold-call a stranger concerning an appointment or concerning anything regarding a potential business objective.  …………….The phone weighs 500 lbs. to them.   In essence they hate or can’t handle REJECTION.

 They make excuses, find other things to do, rationalize away that necessary task of cold-calling …they hate it. Maybe a couple of hated calls and then to a more relief type of objective or task…nothing consistent. That is where and why I exist

_______________________________

 I work only on a weekly basis.  “…week by week…NO CONTRACTS….”  Now…knowing all this…Shouldn’t we at least chat?   “Pays to talk – costs not to.” 

[Name/Number Withheld To Protect The Offensive]

I find emails like this intriguing.  To me, it’s an indicator of how the telemarketer might work, the time spent in researching, targeting, and personalizing their message to catch the interest of the prospective client.  If anything, you would think in trying to generate business business for himself, Bob would do his homework and really try to hit my hot buttons.  It’s pretty easy to determine those if you just spend 15-20 minutes reading my blog, website, LinkedIn profile or anything else.

I then think, if Bob isn’t going to take the time to do this and deliver an impactful message about how he can really help me, how is he going to represent me or anyone else to their prospective customers?

It’s important for any sales or marketing professional to recognize that customers are always watching.  The way we conduct ourselves in marketing and selling sets an expectation about how we and our companies are likely to treat them if they were to purchase our products and service.  This is why customer experience and buying experience is so important for us to understand.  In our marketing and sales, are we creating the customer experience we intend, are we representing the experience our prospects and customers will have–want to have– over the duration of the relationship.

Customer experience is part of what each of us does.  As a sales professional, what example are you setting in every interchange with your customer?  Are you setting the example you want and that your company wants?  Are you creating value in every interchange—demonstrating the customer is likely to get value from buying what it is that you are selling?

Bob in his communicatons has clearly demonstrated his “value proposition.”  It’s proper that all his emails automatically go into my Junk Mail folder.  Make sure your communications aren’t treated the same way!