A bit of a harsh headline but I just had to …. this is important.

I just spoke with a sales rep from a “service-based” company that we’re looking to hire for few search / PPC things. Now … I call them up, so that means they already have me on the phone, now is the time to talk to me and try not to let me get off the phone and try to sell to me and try to give me info and try to educate me on why they are better than others and, and… you get the point.

Instead, you know what they do???

They offer to send me their useless, cookie cutter, usually 10-15 page presentation that has only one personalized customization…. (Our company name… wow, big deal). They are letting me off the phone, cutting the conversation short and e-mailing me their PDF file. Now … how dumb is that?

Actually it’s not dumb. You see. Their team has sat and worked their ass off on this 10 page presentation. They looked at every graph, every word, every icon and every little damn thing and after tweaking it for 60 hours they feel it’s superb. They want to send it to me and just wait. Bad strategy!

I thought the reason to have a website, brochure, TV Ad, Radio spot, promotion, Direct mail mailing… any sort of advertisement is to get the person to contact you? Well, sweet heart, I’ve just contacted you. Why are you sending me back?

Look … I have nothing against presentations that companies e-mail. Many times these things are somewhat educational … but sales people do this only when they are not confident in their sales skills. It’s easier to blame the presentation file than yourself.

I think this is a very important issue today as I am sure you see it all the time. I personally hate to receive 20 page presentations. I know that it was not written just for my company. I know that you just pasted my name there to make it look personal. I know you’re making me read your ad. I don’t want to do that. Instead you’d be better of speaking with your prospect on the phone while you had him and explaining as much as you can right then and there.

So, think about it. Do you do the same thing? Do you have a PDF or Powerpoint presentation you’re so proud off that you just stick it to your customer and wait for them to contact you?

P.S. I made the same mistake about 5 years ago. I used to consult dental practice owners on how to get their business growing. So there I was … speaking to the doctor and silly me … instead of answering more of his questions and keep going with the conversation I give him my BELOVED business card with my FAVORITE website (my site) and tell him to go check it out. I learned my lesson.