I recently attended a trade show in Darling Harbour in Sydney. A particular product caught my eye, one that I felt may be a good solution and excellent fit for a client.
After taking a few moments to discuss the product benefits with a young person on the stand I realised that I may need to chat to someone else as he did not have the experience or knowledge to provide the necessary information.
I asked him who the ‘Sales Director’ was, and if it was possible to speak to him or her.
Perhaps a contact phone number would be helpful. The reply stunned me .... ‘Sorry .. I cannot provide any of that. He doesn’t want people calling him as 90% of these enquiries are a waste of time.
That was the instruction from the boss!’ He continued ... ‘that he did not want to get in trouble’. I asked the young bloke if ‘he’ was able to determine which were the 10% ‘really worthwhile’ opportunities?
Observing their stand from a distance for a while I began to see the signs emerge that painted the picture of what it would be like to do business with this company. Simply put ... much to hard and unpleasant.
If ever I have seen a case of management setting the tone and mood for a ‘poor business culture’ this was it! Here again was a practical display of short sighted management technique, intimidation and lack of training, where the ‘front line’ are empowered to only say ‘No’!
With companies looking for ways to increase their ROI on every marketing dollar spent, such behaviour indicates a significant lack of understanding of the psychological drivers that move the decision making process from simply ‘you’ve got my interest’ to ‘a call to action’ that results in a sale.
I hope you make sure you surround your marketing efforts with excellent skills to close a sale.
Best regards
Colin
PS: Coincidentally, I met the boss a little later in the day ... my earlier assessment was confirmed!