Every day, we get deluged with emails offering all manner of services, from HR, to marketing to project management, all the way to the latest, greatest widget that will revolutionize our operations. We try to be courteous with each sender knowing that, with the best of intentions, they have been sold a service that pushes out their advertising like hamburgers in a fast food restaurant. This is yet another example of RSS (Really Short-Sighted Stuff).
Many of these messages emphasize the benefits of their product or service to the potential client. Those same messages don’t seem to be able to say – in clear, unambiguous terms – what their product and service actually is. Perhaps this is a ploy to get the potential client to inquire in order to get clarity. If so, it’s not working, at least with us. If it’s the software that is pushing on the lack of clarity, then the senders are spending time, money and energy for not a lot in return.
We too, have been tempted by claims that offer to broadcast messages to targeted audiences aimed at finding out what will “stick to the wall”. AI is claimed to have substantially improved this cold calling approach to business development, although it looks a bit like Brute Force and Ignorance to us. Since we are company that is focused on human behaviours, we have analyzed our own reactions and have found that we are profoundly dissatisfied with a process that appears to be cynical at its best and dishonest at its worst. Paramount to our minds is that the message of what is valuable with a given product or service is lost due to lack of clarity and sheer volume.
What we want to know when we get contacted by a firm is: 1) What is our problem? 2) What is your perception of the problem and what solution are you offering? 3) How does your solution help us? 4) What can we gain by purchasing your product or service? 5) What are next steps?
What we are actually getting is the old Sis-Boom-Bah accompanied with lots of bells and whistles.
There must be a better way to attract clients. Turning them off at the outset and pushing them to hit the delete button doesn’t seem particularly useful. We talk of waste in the environment; we can also talk of electronic waste involving wasted words, wasted bandwidth and wasted time. So, for those who are trying to sell into client firms: please know what you are offering to your clients and respect their time and energy; then, act accordingly…
