I was pondering what to write today, but then several spam sales pitches showed up in my inbox, and I thought, perfect.
Look. I get it. You want to sell something. Anything. But slinging hash up against the wall hoping that it will stick is a pretty lousy strategy.
Here is a great example of what NOT to do. I’ve removed the name to protect the clueless, but otherwise, the email is as it came to me with grammar errors and all. My commentary is after the email.
“Hi Barbara,
My name is XYZ, and I’m with XYZ company. Given that companies in the Entertainment industry are constantly hiring and back-filling positions, I thought you would be interested in what we offer. Do you happen to know who evaluates recruiting tools at Talent Builders Inc, if not yourself?
XYZ company has over 10,000 small business customers, many of which are looking for the type of candidates that exist on our site or visit our job board aggregator partners. In short, our software gets your jobs out there, organizes, and speeds up your hiring process. You can be up and running in minutes.
Features:
- Unlimited users
- Unlimted job posts that syndicate to 20+ top job boards including Indeed, SimplyHired, JuJu and more
- Automated re-posting to your social media accounts
- Access to XYZ’s extensive resume database
- Pre-screening and filtering ability with video, audio, multiple choice and more
- Interview scheduling and applicant tracking
- Share application link - for hiring managers
- Dedicated account support
Largest package is only $99/mo or $800 for the year
Do you or the person who oversees your hiring strategy have 15 minutes next week for a quick call?
Still in the dark? Check out the video on our homepage at whatever.com
Thanks in advance!
XYZ Sales Rep”
Where do I begin?
At least he got my name right, but the email is one that has never existed, so somebody just tried making it up.
I’m NOT in the Entertainment business. Talent Builders, Inc. is my corporation and we DBA as Social Centered Selling, an LLC that Talent Builders owns. It is not uncommon for someone to think that Talent Builders is in entertainment or recruiting, but we are not.
He gives me all the pricing. Why do I even need to talk to him? I can just simply file this away in the “maybe I will get to it someday”, but then again, probably not.
Do I know who oversees hiring? Of course, I’m the owner.
Still in the dark? Well, actually, I didn’t know that I was in the dark. Thanks for insulting me. But I get it, you want me to do your job for you and go figure out for myself why I should bother spending any time with you.
The problem I have with this email, beyond the fact that it is unsolicited, is that the sales rep is just lazy. I’m guessing his marketing team cued up this email and he just blindly sent it out. Or, maybe he came up with this piece of genius on his own. Whatever the case, it is a classic example of what too many sales people are cranking out there. Why would anyone bother to waste time getting back to you if you send these sorts of messages?
If you want to engage a prospect, and it is important to you that you get a sales appointment, STOP - take 5 minutes to THINK about what you are sending before bothering to hit send.
That is all.