Sales bad practices – a never-ending story

Sometimes I think the tips in my blog posts might be too simple for some. But the risk seems minimal; feedback and observation show that there is tremendous potential for improvement for most people and organizations.

Recent examples:

• A training provider offers courses that need to be rescheduled repeatedly because of low registration numbers. When I called to ask for the next planned dates, the woman I spoke to gave me that information—but nothing more. Why did she not ask for my e-mail address or phone number so that she could inform me as soon as the dates were fixed? Why do they not maintain a list of interested people’s e-mail addresses? All they do is waiting and complaining.
   
• At different events, I meet people who provide services that could be interesting for our business. Even if I show my interest and give them my business card, they rarely follow up. Eighty percent of the time, I receive a standardized service brochure or something similar. I hope none of these people complain about bad business.
   
• Another service provider to whom I was referred did get in touch with me personally (good), but she added me to the company’s e-mail distribution list. Now I receive an e-mail every day with promotional information (bad). This is an example of too much sales and too little listening.

These examples have convinced me that I should continue with my blog posts.

 There are many people who can still learn and organizations that can improve.