I'm not sure if this has got worse with the downturn or if I'm just noticing more of it, but there's a definite increase in pushy salespeople invading my inbox and plaguing me on the phone.
If your product is good and it's a good "fit" for a sales prospect then maybe they'll buy. Maybe they won't. It's probably down to a certain amount of luck combined with timing, pricing and other factors.
But the "hard" sell and the "pushy" sales methods are not going to work for me. Ever.
Last week, for example, a particular company tried again to sell me a service. I wasn't interested. I wasn't interested last week, nor was I going to be interested ever. It's not a service that we have any pressing need for.
So I gently tried to rebuff them, but the salesperson just wouldn't let go.
This evening I got yet another email from a company that I've already told several times to stop emailing me. We will never buy their products or services. Ever.
Yet they still persist.
Why oh why do people do this?
I understand that some people use outbound sales to generate leads. If done right it can work really well - I've bought products and services from a lot of companies that have done it.
But there's a very large gap between simply "doing it" and "doing it right".
If someone does not want to buy your product or service and they've told you as much, why on earth would you keep on pushing it?
Why?
Do you honestly think that selling is like some kind of war of attrition? That you'll be able to wear people down so much that they'll eventually buy from you simply to shut you up?
Answers on a postcard ..
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