Back around 2005 I had an office that when you walked through the main door you were in our production pit. It was usually fine because we were a production company and we didn’t get any walk in business.
One day though, a guy walks into our office and says loudly “Hey there! How ya doing?” We all get up and someone responds, “Hey! Good. You?”
We all look slightly confused as not one of us recognizes the person right off the bat.
He goes on “What are ya doing today? You busy?”
Me, “Fairly. A few things on the go…how about you?” I’m being extremely friendly, wracking my brain as to who this person is. I’m starting to panic as he knows us and by the look on everyone’s faces we don’t know him! Is he a client?! Is he crew?!
Him-“I’m great! I was thinking about you folks the other day so I thought I would drop by.”
I’m fucked. I really don’t remember this guy…not uncommon as our client/supplier list is well over 400 people but normally with everyone around we should have someone able to place him…I get the courage. “I’m so sorry. I can’t remember your name…”
Him- “No problem it’s Bob! So, the office looks great!”
Me- “Bob, sorry, but how do I know you?” I say smiling.
Bob- “Well, I don’t know if you do, but I have a great selection of books that I’m offering to select company…” I interrupt. “Wait…You don’t know us?”
I’m not going to say what happened next…it just got stupid..
Funny story and it’s true. But what’s my point? There is a line that can’t be crossed during any point in the sales cycle but especially at the very beginning. Don’t pretend that you know me. Be friendly and welcoming but don’t fake a relationship! For me, the second I loose trust within the cycle, I’m out of it and usually very peeved for someone wasting my time.
Now you’re thinking “Bob” is a pretty rare occurrence, but he isn’t. We just need to see all the “Bob’s” out there for who and what they are.
A few days ago I got an email telling me about a local service. The way the email was formatted it looked like I would know the person or the company. I had to wrack my brain the same way as with Bob, only to discover, I didn’t know them! It was a bloody waste of time trying to figure out a connection because there wasn’t any. It was Spam. Spam, Spam, Spam!
One of the main rules in sales is you need to gain the targets trust. These people didn’t, in fact just the opposite. They had no clue about it and it seems to be happening time and again with many other companies and their email marketing. You get added to an email list, ad hock and without your knowing.
There are multiple reasons for having a person’s permission before adding them to an email list. The most serious is, without permission, your email is Spam and believe it or not, most hosting companies have rules against sending Spam! I have actually seen hosting companies have their entire list of clients banned from sending emails to other hosting companies. As such most hosting companies take Spam very seriously now. Less serous legally, but more important for your sales, you loose your chance to have a conversation with your prospect if you are in the junk mail folder or worse, pissed them off!
Being friendly I sent the Spammer an email a day later explaining a little about email marketing and a couple of pointers as to how she might have been a little more successful in contacting me…….I don’t think she gave a rat’s ass… I believe she thinks, as most people who make the same mistake do, Email Marketing is suppose to be easy and people being pissed off about Spam is just part of the course. It’s not! Email Marketing can be a rewarding relationship, if you offer something of value. If you do, chances are the recipient will let you keep emailing them giving you multiple chances at a sale. If you offer no value and have not taken the time to make it of value then why would we keep letting you fill our in box and wasting our time?
On the surface Email Marketing just looks like it would be getting and managing a mailing list. It’s not. If your are going to put people on an email list, at least take the 20 seconds (if that) to send a personal email to them asking to do so… Gain a little bit of trust first and then build on it! It also allows them to say no and them saying no is not all bad. It gives you information on the prospect (email is legit, signature bar, etc), starts a conversation and allows you to tailor the message better to that prospect and to others (they might have unique needs that you didn’t know about and didn’t tailor your introduction message to).
Let me help you just in case you are still not going to make the effort….
Dear (insert company here),
I have come across your company while researching possible clients for our services. Every now and then we send out information that you might be interested in about (what you do/sell). We promise that you will find it of use and interesting. If you don’t want to be included on the mailing list, please let us know and you will not receive anymore emails from us. Further after receiving any future emails, you can still decide at that time, not to receive anymore.
Thank you for your time and hope we can be of service to you in the future,
(your name here..YOUR REAL NAME!)
Please feel free to cut and paste, but remember to replace (insert company here) and (your name here) with the appropriate information….nothing says stupid like getting emails with it still there…and I do get them!
Anyone remember the old days of Fax spam? …….. Ok, there used to a machine that, when connected up to a regular wired phone line, would transmit black and white images to another Fax somewhere else. Some companies would hire a “Fax marketing company” to send out Spam Ads to any and every fax number in a select area. It was all about “the list”. Cheep flights, cheap cruises, cleaning, Fax and copy repair, you name it, it would just appear on your fax machine eating up your toner, paper and God forbid…your thermal paper roll!
Well one day some bright fellow thought of a way to get even. They would find out the advertisers business Fax number and send them a looped black page, called a “black fax”…ok…A what? A black fax was exactly what it sounds like. You would tape four pieces of black paper together with a strip of exposed tape at the top so you could join the bottom piece into a roll. You would dial the offending number, hit send on the fax and as the paper starts feeding through you would take the leading edge of the paper that just went through the Fax scanner and attach it to the last edge so you have an endless loop of black. Unless the person on the other end is paying attention to their Fax, they would end up with no toner or paper or worse….AN EMPTY THERMAL PAPER ROLL!
To the Fax marketing company and their clients, the “list” was everything, until they got feed back (pay back?) from the folks who they pissed off. Don’t let your email marketing be like Fax Spam! You have to see your prospects as more than a list. You have to earn trust and the first step in email marketing is to do that!
If anyone discovers a “black fax” trick for spam email, please let me know. Also, I always wondered whether “Bob’s” tactic worked well in large offices where there was a certain amount of anonymity….I wonder what he is doing now?
Scott Westerlaken
With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.
Al Graham is a veteran of the advertising wars who once smoked like Mad Men’s Don Draper. He is also a veteran of many social conflict wars and has been actively involved in protesting dumps, airports, expressways and urban sprawl.