For my Canadian Readers and Hockey Fans -
I gotta say, WHAT a game. Absolutely incredible. Every year I love watching the WJHC. So close.
Yesterday on my company's website, there was a contact request. Initially my reaction, along with the rest of the sales team, was, "Great, we're seeing more and more of these. We've been getting great exposure and people are interested in us." Not so was this particular spammy form filler extraordinaire. I think most of you know what I am talking about; the sly guy who contacts you via a form on the company website only to try and sell himself or his product to you with the text/comment box. Some are quite blatant and others slither like a snake and weasle their way to get a phone call in return. At first glance, not such a bad strategy. I'm sure people do call them back. To me, this just starts the relationship off on the wrong foot. After all, sales is still a people first business.
My question to you the reader is: (my answer)
a) Do you think this works? (maybe, sometimes)
b) Is this an effective use of sales' time (nope)
c) Should sales even bother following up with the request (case by case basis, yes. Perhaps a standard e-mail asking for clarification on what they are interested in) ie, a temperature gauge.
That is all folks. Please leave comments below and some answers to my questions.
Stay tuned
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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That definitely does not work, but you know one thing that I find about companies is that they don't expose the right people to connect with through their websites. I believe that every company should list there employees names, roles, and email addresses so the appropriate person can get in touch.
ReplyDeleteFor people who have a great product and service I appreciate it when they get in touch because I'm not searching for them, its valuable and I probably wouldn't have purchased otherwise. And makes my life easier having the right tools for the job.
If your product sucks, your approach sucks I can't imagine a successful sales transaction to take place using the contact us form. Just don't do it.