I received a voicemail from a sales representative:
‘The purpose of my call today is to introduce myself and take a moment to briefly describe for you two core-based technologies; laser Internet on-line office and an Internet broadcasting technology. I don’t know whether or not if any of these applications may be of interest to you, I would appreciate a brief moment of your time to review that.’
They weren’t of interest. I didn’t call back. Well, actually, to be more exact, I didn’t know if they’d be of interest. I am kind of a dope when it comes to technology so I have frequent conversations with my IT consultant. I tell him what I’d like to be able to accomplish and he makes recommendations, in very plain English.
Getting back to the message above, I have no idea what ‘core-based technologies’ and ‘laser internet on-line office,’ mean. While I have a sense of what ‘an internet broadcasting technology’ might be, I don’t know or understand its value to me. And that is the heart of the matter: What is the value? There was nothing in his message that enabled me to understand the value he had to offer. There was, therefore, no reason for me to call him back.
This same representative called me a few days later. Because I generally talk to sales people who call me, we did talk for approximately five minutes. I still didn’t understand what his product was, what it did or what its value to me might possibly be. I told him so. He still couldn’t make himself clear. Instead, he said he’d send an email, which would miraculously explain everything. I never received it.
Instead, a few days later there was another voicemail. It was the exact same message that he’d left the first time. No acknowledgement that we’d talked (clearly, he’d forgotten or simply didn’t check me off in his database) and no mention of the promised e-mail. I didn’t return his call.
Today I received yet another voice mail from this representative. This one went: ‘Just wanted to follow-up on our conversation and the information I sent to you.’ Again, this message contained nothing about the value he had to offer. He gave me no compelling reason to respond and I did not.
So what are the lessons here?
- Keep good records.
- If you promise to send something to a prospect, send it.
- Always lead with value.
- Be crystal clear.
Enough said.
