Crossing the Line ! No Wonder "salesman" Has a Bad Rap !
In business, there is something to be said for being aggressive, having energy and zeal to go all out and conquer the world and your market. I am all for that. For without prospecting and asking for business, nothing will happen.
As a former financial consultant who did a lot of cold calling and reading a lot of scripts, I understand. Sometimes I find it entertaining when I known I am being pitched from a script. That being said, too often sales folks will take it too far with their pitch and cross the line. What is disturbing is they do not even know they are crossing the line. Or even worse, maybe they do...
Below are four very recent examples that we have experienced that in my opinion crossed the line:
1. Seller being hounded by Cannibals (fomer Real Estate Office)
We recently had an agent come to our office from a competitor. She had one listing where the seller wanted to stay with her so an agreement was worked out with that office. Still, there must have been 30 calls from agents out of that office calling that seller saying that she should stay with their company with a typical script "I am an aggressive agent...I call every withdrawn listing " . (I would suggest choose wisely when to use your Tom Ferry coaching program for withdrawn listings.)
The quote from the seller after being accosted with so many phone calls from agents in that one company over a few days was "I will never deal with that company again". That is the bigger picture.
2. Stalked "Solicitation" and Selling a Salesperson
Due to our presence on the Internet, we are constantly being solicited for business for SEO services, websites, new tools and widgets, and everything in between. I do not mind it. Often times, I will give one of these services a shot. A recent company, named Zurple, gave us a pitch which sounded interesting made follow-up calls to us every day. Not just everyday, but 3, 4 or 5 times a day. One day I believe it was almost 10 calls ! Almost to the point of stalking. Or maybe that is stalking ?? This type of follow-up is just too aggressive in my opinion and thus, crosses the line. You probably already know what our decision is in terms of signing up with this company or not.
3. Passive Spamming on Facebook
I have had an insurance person in our area constantly comment on my postings stating that if I ever have anyone that needs homeowners insurance to give her a call. I appreciate that, maybe a post or two, but 10 or 12 or even more is just too much. I guess that since I never commented on her posts nor had anyone call her, she stopped spamming my facebook page. Maybe she realized she crossed the line ?
4. Inappropriate Opportunity-taking
Stephanie just got an IPAD and one of the perks was to do training for Realtors at the new Mac store in Philly. So during this training, one of the trainers kept talking about his video services and how critical and important it was that we have professional videos done and even more important, to be be done by him personally for an inflated fee. There was very little learned from this training from this sales rep, but more of a distaste that he took advantage of this opportunity to promote his video services. She learned more out of the sales reps that were on the floor than the specialized trainer for Realtors.
To summarize, consumers do not want services to be jammed down their throats. The hard sell comes off insincere and lacks professionalism. Consumers are more educated and deserve more. The consummate professional will continue to gain market share in his or her profession. Our goal as Realtors and business owners is to do excellent work for our clients and for the community. Ultimately we do not need to say great things about us, as others are already doing that. That is the beauty of referral business, social media and doing great work and loving what you do !
What examples do you have where folks may have crossed the line ?
No wonder "salesman" has a bad rap !
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