I've noticed a dangerous trend taking place in business circles today and that's ignoring emails and phone calls from people you know are trying to sell you something.
I'm sensitive to this trend because I have been in sales off and on for more than 15 years now.
I appreciate that everyone is busy. I'm hardly able to keep up with the email and phone calls from clients, partners and prospects. However, I make it a point to reply to just about everyone who reaches out to me, which includes the unsolicited contacts. Why?
For starters, I believe that what goes around comes around. I coach all of my clients that if you own a business, you are in sales. Whether you are an attorney, contractor or web designer, you are in sales. Without someone selling your service, nothing happens.
So, if you're in sales, then there are times when you are the one making the call or sending the email hoping to engage a prospect in a dialogue. If you regularly ignore calls and emails from those trying to sell you, then I think you're setting the stage to receive the same treatment. And you know how frustrating it is to be totally ignored, doesn't it?
My second reason is that you just might learn something. I spoke to a Yelp salesperson a few months back who called me unsolicited. We arranged for a phone appointment and he walked me through how advertising on Yelp works. I learned things I didn't know, which help me be better informed for my clients. The salesperson was happy to educate me and I was grateful for it. This happened with a Google Places salesperson, too. I even got some free advertising activated as a result of taking his unsolicited call. That was worth my time.
My third reason is that you never know what might come of engaging with a stranger. I've had two people in the last month reach out to me for a consultation on growing their business.
One of them expressed a real interest in meeting me after speaking on the phone. I sent them an email with more detail on how I work and when we could meet. The email bounced back. I called back, reached the person and was given an alternate email address. I sent an email. No response. Ten days later I sent another email. No response.
By choosing to now ignore my attempts to follow up on his original inquiry he is missing out on:
1. Leads for his business. I pass leads to people in my network every week. I don't know anyone else who does what he does. Indeed, I might even be a prospect for his services, but by treating me as an unimportant salesperson he'll never know.
2. Key introductions. I regularly facilitate connections between people in my network to help business get done.
3. Free business-building education. I do free seminars all the time and get great feedback on how educational and helpful they are from people who don't do business with me.
My point is you just don't know what exploring a relationship with the person on the other end might lead to unless you take a minute to find out.
Okay, I'm getting off my soapbox now on this topic. Let me just say this, if you've been pretty cold to salespeople to now, I hope you'll rethink this behavior. It just might be good for you.
Email me your thoughts.