Do you ever get frustrated by salespeople who call you and leave misleading messages? Does that make you very receptive to what that sales person has to say? Thought not. Today I’m going to give you something very important:
The Manifesto for Truth in Voice Mails
Attn: Salespeople–I know it’s often hard to just get people to call you back. But trying to fool me by using sneaky tactics is really not acceptable and it won’t get you the results you want. Just be honest in your message!
Here are 3 real life examples of salespeople that have used these tactics with me in the last year:
- I received an email with the subject line “Sponsorship Interest.” The sender of the email went on to explain they are very interested in sponsoring one of our conferences. Naturally, I called right back on the phone. A few questions later, I learned they wanted to “sponsor” our event by providing discounted AV services.
- Another salesperson called in and left a message for me. “We are very interested in sponsorship opportunities,” he said. I called back. A few questions later, I determine that he really wanted us to outsource our buyers’ guide to his company.
- And still another company called me who enthused “We have NAIOP in our online media plan and would like to speak with you about advertising.” On my return call I found out that, once again, the company wanted me to outsource our online ads and buyers’ guide—to them.
Did I do business with any of these companies? No!
So you got me to call back – Congrats. But I’ll never do business with you. If you are willing to use a false pretense just to get me to call you, how can I trust you later on in the relationship?
The answer is….I can’t. (Even if I were interested in their services, I wouldn’t use these companies based on principle.)
Good salespeople play the long game and build up trust. Any shortcut that uses up all your trust with one phone call is not worth it. Instead, invest the time to get to know your prospect’s business and wow them with a kick-ass value proposition.
It may take more time to get that callback, but when you do, you are far more likely to close a deal and win a long-term customer.
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Guest blogger: Christopher Ware, Vice President of Business Development, NAIOP and a frequent speaker for Niche Media HQ. Chris is an experienced association executive with expertise in generating non-dues revenue, including: corporate sponsorships, print advertising, online advertising, exhibit space and customized sponsorship plans.
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