Anatomy Of A Lousy Sales Email

Let me just start by saying, I wish that guy/gal were a competitor of mine…easy pickens! 

In your shoes as the owner of the group, I’d start by kicking them out!  When this happens to me, I ignore them, they persist, I ignore them some more and eventually they go away. 

It frustrates me to think that anyone can use that philosophy and think they could ever be successful.  Unfortunately, this method probably works for them often enough that they actually believe it works.

With any luck, they subscribe to Sales Playbook and start paying attention!

I’ll be interested to hear other people’s thoughts.  Good post again!

Regards,

Gerry Bowler

Thanks for kicking us off Gerry.

Just to clarify . . . this wasn’t in the Salesplaybook group it was in another group.

To your point . . . I guess if you send enough of these out, something has to stick.

Very sad

Thanks again Gerry!

So many things to comment on. Where do I start?

My first reaction is the irony of a person claiming to have “the Best Social Media training” demonstrating such poor understanding of how to use the medium.To me this is “throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks” 2.0. (Or “Blind Squirrel” 2.0 – take your pick).

It’s easy to identify the junk like this, but turn it on it’s head:  How could this interaction work better?  Here’s my crack at it…

Hi Paul!

I saw your post about “canned presentations” and thought it was a great idea that I’m going to apply.  I’ve seen several other posts and am consistently impressed with the quality of the content you share.  I’d like to connect with you in hopes we might be able to help each other.  Could we connect?

Awesome point Chuck.

I don’t think his approach was indicative of a true social media “expert”.

Practicing what one preaches can be a double edged sword.

Thanks for your input Chuck!

I like it Russ because it demonstrates that you’ve done your homework and you’ve led with my (and everyone else’s favorite subject) “me”.

The other thing I like about it is that it doesn’t have this “hello you don’t know me but let’s get married anyway” vibe to it!

Thanks Russ!

Too pushy for me, no attempt to build a relationship and only interested in making a quick sale. I Wouldn’t even reply.

@Gerry, thanks for your comments. It is hard to monitor everyone like this, but I to would ignore them. I don’t mind people wanted to connect with me even though I do not know them, if I think it might benefit me too.

At least the e-mailer was polite enough to ask if he could use your head as a rung of the ladder to reach any person who has “real authority”.   LOL

Doug

Well, he should have at least clicked on your name to learn something about you. Whatever happened to qualifying suspects?

I agree Tom.

How long does it take with all this cool technology to do some basic research?

Thanks for stopping by and contributing!

That’s beautiful Doug

Thanks!

Agree with you 100% Bernie!

Thanks for taking the time to weigh in on this!

Wow – where to begin….  For starters, how can they present a proposal without even a discussion and understanding of your particular needs?  Jumping the gun a bit, I think.  Smells like “rookie” all over it.

Is it worse when you get a canned presentation from someone you know and have worked with before? I got one the other day from a former co-worker who is trying to partner with my company.  He had the standard “Hi Ron, my name is…and I am…”. He then went on to give the standard I,I,I,I (I call it the Ozzy Osborne song of sales…Crazy Train!).  So I emailed him and said hey you know me, you don’t need to introduce yourself, how about making the email a little more personal?  He called and said he would have loved to but he had 500 emails to send and he just couldn’t personalize each one. In my opinion he lost 500 potential partners.

He obviously doesn’t know anything about you.  So, he didn’t do his homework- for starters.   

That is interesting Ron. I experienced something similar.A rep who quit, gave two weeks notice and then on the last week didn’t show up for work and informed me he started his other job; sent a blind email saying something to the effect of: “Now I work at XYZ car dealer and please keep me in mind ofr a new car purchase.

WOW! I wonder if this approach actually gives him some results. I am a big believer that the folks who go after actually get some result as opposed to folks who do not. 
No matter how horrible his approach, at least he is showing up and going after it.
Good post Bro-seph!

Whoops- didn’t see the “for” typo since it was hidden from view.

Sadly I bet its the old “sales is a numbers thing” in that you send out enough crap, someone is bound to accept it.

Thanks Bro hemeth

That’s for sure. Could catch Lesann!

What a freakin TOOL!

My response . . . “Oh cool. Then you’ll understand that I don’t have time to speak with you.” click

How could he think that his response would make you feel warm and fuzzy?

I think we should all go and buy a car from this dude

No worries . . . you’re in the company of non judgmental friends here

Thanks for your comment Leslie!

Yes a tad presumptuous don’t you think?

Thanks for stopping by Sabine!

Love it.

I think Doug nailed it!

I’m agreeing with most of the comments, do some freaking research! Had he at least looked at your profile, wow. By the way I know someone who is looking for a position in HR does your company have any openings??
Just askinnnnn 

Paul, thanks for posting.  This is to straight forward.  I just received a message from one of my connections that was pretty much the same.

Here is the message I got:
Hi, I sell X, I see your the channel sales manager, please sell out and give me the name of the person I need to get paid.

Given that they are a connection I would think that they would engage in some small talk or see how I’m doing before asking me to just fork over the goods.  Not to mention I don’t see the connection between my title of Channel Sales Manager has anything to do with what they are selling.

This post has reminded me how necessary it is to personalize an interaction.

After reading all of the comments to date I don’t want to pile on. (but I have to) Paul, did you email him back and ask if he would like social media training from a real pro? This contact is really reaching out to you man, he could be the use of one of his life lines, ha, ha,

I believe most has been said related to this topic. To add to your point Paul of not being a true “expert”. I was talking to a gentlemen who is A Google Adwords, SEO, etc. expert (first red flag was all his expertise). His mandate was to take the 90% of companies with “garbage” websites and put them at the top page of Google (I didn’t know Google’s first page of results could host so many entries). So I asked him to define what his company is/or does. And I asked him if I googled SEO companies or Google Adwords, etc. if his company would be on first page of Google. He got a little offended but I think it was a valid question. Either way I wasn’t impressed with his response.

He saved the day by asking me to view a video presentation he couldn’t get to run — what an impression!

This guy didn’t earn it Paul but if you have a charitable
side, send him a link to this blog string. Most of us aren’t
willing to tell a stranger outright that yes they do look fat in those pants, but sending the blog link takes the pressure off. You can probably write the charitable
contribution off on your taxes.     

I love it Dave!

Thanks!

A belated thank you for stopping by Jay!

First and foremost . . . Sorry about about the delay in responding to your message.

The example you’ve given is so typical of someone who truly doesn’t get it.

More opportunity for you and I!

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by and contribute!

So true Scott and its not like research is a hard thing to do these days.

Thanks for stopping by and sorry for the delayed response!