A Bad Sales Pitch

I've been working in the world of sales for many years now and I certainly appreciate the opportunity to talk to other good salespeople. Unfortunately, those people don't seem to exist at either the Chicago Tribune or Omaha Steaks. For weeks now I have been getting calls from both places, and because of my experience with the salespeople there, I will never be a customer of theirs.

Omaha Steaks -
Yes, I have had their products. They are....... good - very small portions and expensive. Sure, they are decent tasting, but not worth the price to me when I know I can get twice as much meat at Schwan's for the same price or three times as much from the regular grocery store. Omaha Steaks does have some interesting products that I have thought I might like to try, but due to their incredibly wasteful mailing campaigns and their obsessive calling, I will not spend so much as a dime with them ever again. I placed one order with Omaha Steaks in May. Since then, I have received at least $100 worth of junk mail. These aren't just flyers or a quick postcard. These are huge packets with foldout brochures, return envelopes and advertisements. Talk about a wasteful attitude. Do they not realize the importance of conserving our resources? They could simply email me a web link with all of this information, yet each week I receive at least 3 packets of advertising from them. Perhaps if they stopped wasting so much money on advertising, they could lower their cost on their products. In addition, I have had someone call my home at least 3 times a day when I do not answer the phone. Sure, they may be persistent, but I have asked many times to be taken off of their list. Now instead of losing just me as a customer, they have pushed me to the point of blogging about it and asking everyone else out their to boycot their products. Unless you want to start receiving twice as much junk mail as you already do and unless you want your phone to ring every day asking for you to buy more, STAY AWAY FROM OMAHA STEAKS - really great companies with really great products simply don't need to advertise that much.

Chicago Tribune -
I have not been annoyed by the volume of calls from the Tribune, but the content of these calls are over the top. Today, I received a call from a hard-selling- bit**-of-a-salesperson named Chaundra. Chaundra first sounded like a cute little sorority girl trying to make a buck or two at telemarketing - then after I politely declined the opportunity to purchase the Tribune (for just $2.49 per week) she tried to hard close me by saying things like "OK and what is your address again?" or "How do you spell the name of your city?" or "and who do I have the pleasure of speaking with today?" or "What credit card would you like to put this on?" She kept telling me how she was SO EXCITED about the new look of the Tribune and that she "just really didn't want me to have to miss out on this great opportunity." I explained again that I was not interested. (Basically we tried getting the paper before but the paperboy never delivered it before my husband left for work so it usually got recycled without even being read - if we really want a paper we can borrow one from someone else or buy one at the gas station.) Chaundra kept pushing the issue though. I interrupted her and said "Look Chaundra, I am in sales too and I realize you're just doing your job, but nothing you can say is going to change my mind. I do not want to have the paper delivered to my house." She in turn interrupted me by saying "But this is such a great opportunity and we are so excited about it - now what is your address?" Good luck Chaundra - thanks to you, I will never subscribe to the Tribune (well that and the fact that much of their paper is garbage I am frankly not interested in. In the words of my father-in-law, "we aren't going to read that union-busting-commie-rag." haha)

Where do these bad salespeople come from and what happens to them after they lose this job? I recruit for salespeople every day and I work with salespeople every day. Some people thing that anyone can give sales a try. This is simply NOT true. A salesperson has the opportunity to make the first impression a potential consumer will have of their company. Send in a bad salesperson and you will lose potential business and potential word of mouth advertising. Send in a good salesperson and you might make a sale or two. Send in a stellar salesperson and you have a customer for life. Not only that, but that customer will continue to refer their friends, family and acquaintences to your business. In my opinion, the salesperson will make it or break it for your company.

I once had a boss who thought that people did business with me because I worked for him - not because they liked me in particular. Explain to me then why all of those people are still working with me 5 years down the road and not with him. It's because they know me, they like me and they trust me. They know that I genuinely have their best interest in mind 100% of the time. As for my former boss, they never talked to him, met him, or knew anything about him. Therefore, they were not obligated to work with him after I left.

The moral of the story: Companies need to take the time to interview and hire the best salespeople that they can find. Once they have great salespeople, they need to treat them right and do everything they can to hold on to that salesperson. Sure, I believe in second chances, but the first impression is nearly always the most important - especially when it comes to how a consumer should or shouldn't spend their money.