Monday, December 15, 2014

Cold Calls - Do Vendors Research You Before Calling? (Nope)

I am amazed at how many vendors cold-call me, without doing ANY prior research on me or my company.  A little web searching (very little, frankly) would have revealed that I am NOT a good prospect for these vendors.  In spite of that, they call to talk about their products and services (“Hey, we’ve just had a new release and I want to tell you all about it!  It’s all about us, and nothing about you…”).  Most callers offer a demo of their offering, nearly right away – and very frequently offer a free trial or evaluation. 

I often take them up on their offers to see how their “sales” process operates and to stay up-to-speed with current products and services.  (I use “sales” in quotes because any opportunity that lists me or my company is HIGHLY likely to end as a “No Decision” – so sad!)

Typical triggers to receive this type of cold call, in my experience, include:

-          Signing up for a webinar
-          Downloading a paper or article from a vendor’s website
-          Having ever answered my telephone…

What’s been your experience? 


[I wonder how many of these cold calls are driven by “activity”-based metrics, such as “You need to make 20 calls and do 15 demos per day…”?  Sigh…]

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