September 18th 2009
Targets look for any reason to disqualify you
Targets look for any reason to disqualify you. This was said to me by a client this week. At first blush it seemed a harsh statement.Then I asked one of my usual suspects, Colin McWhinney (SalesXperts) about it. He said, ” Yes! They are absolutely looking for anything to disqualify you. That’s why the more you give a target, the more they have to say no to. So we send short vs long emails, terse vs long case studies and we never ever send out a brochure . That is the kiss of death.”
That comment rang my bell. I know how I react to blatant pitches, strident emails. I quickly trash anything with misspelling, mis naming, grammar and content errors, garish HTML, long messages. I absolutely never return salesy voice messages as well as those from “acquaintances” who are only ever looking to get free help for themselves with nothing (no money) offered to me.
What I hear, is that if a target ever really asks you for something it must be tightly focused on what they say they want. Generic does not cut it. Except to cut you out of the running.
Why targets do this is likely a survival tactic to help deal with the increasing amount of incoming info. Its not personal, nor is it that conscious. It just happens. Why is not as important as to what you do about it.
As sales guys we can be (and sometimes rightly so) accused of poor attention to detail. We need to be confident that we are doing things in the best way that works, in order to keep at this work, since hearing no is a part of our everyday life. So we must be diligent that all our communication is free from anything that gives a target any reason to disqualify us. Let’s not create our own nos!
- Memo to Startups: Waiting for that Moment (cloudave.com)
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Category: Marketing, Sales, Sales Effectiveness, Sales Efficiency
