LeapFish Teaches Sales Professionals About Email Do’s and Don’ts…and Click Fraud

Now, I don’t want to get off on a Friday Rant, here, but let’s talk a little bit about email, as it relates to your job – Selling.  It is a 2 edged sword that can be the great equalizer or a giant headache because it provides a record – a permanent journal of your exchanges with someone.  Let’s look at a couple of Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

DO Use it As a Communication Supplement During the Sales Cycle – Email provides a mechanism for you to quickly coordinate with prospects during the early stages of the sales cycle:

• Email prior to your first interaction (“Before I call”) to make introductions
• After a first impression / voicemail (“I just tried to call”) to follow up
• during the middle of the sales cycle (“Is there a good time to reconnect?”) to continue building the relationship.

DO Use it as a permanent record of previous prospect communication – Did the prospect indicate that the contract would be signed by Monday?  Replying to her email on Tuesday may help reinforce why you are reaching out.

Don’ts

DON’T Assume the Recipient Is Sharing Your Mood – Although you may write it with the best of intentions, Email is generally read in the mood of the recipient…not the sender – Did the recipient get unexpected bad news prior to reading your note?  Did they kick the dog or learn of a mis-behaving child?  Regardless of the mood you intended, the recipient will read it in their current mood.

Here’s a tidbit for newbies – DON’T SEND BAD NEWS VIA EMAIL, WITHOUT A CORRESPONDING PHONE CALL (generally making the call before sending is best).  They will get the news, see red, and send an angry dart your way

DON’T Write It Down Unless You are Ready to Back It Up – When you put something in writing, always assume that it may be seen by unintended individuals, not the intended recipient – Quick Story – When my Uncle was an intern during his senior year of Auburn, he wrote a note about his intern supervisor (not email…a note…to Mail), calling the individual in question a “Sissy” (which was strong language for a college kid to use on an adult in the 60’s).  Long Story Short – The supervisor found his note, contacted his professor, and had my Uncle sent back to Auburn for punishment.  His professor’s advice – “I’m not saying that what you thought (him being a sissy) isn’t true.  You just should never have written it down.”

Combining DON’T #1 and DON’T #2 is the most important DON’T – DON’T Get Frustrated AND Write Something Stupid Down – If you’ve been following the blogs this week, you likely saw TechCrunch’s article on LeapFish.  If not – Let me give you the Reader’s Digest version:

The sales person from LeapFish (who is now unemployed) got frustrated that a company, who it appeared he had targeted as a prospect because of their lower ranking in Google (good qualification skills), called the prospect 2 times back-to-back and was rebuffed as not needing LeapFish’s service.

The salesperson was obviously growing agitated, allegedly ended the call with a veiled threat related to Google AdWords spend.  (AUTHOR’S NOTE – The sales person has now let mood get into the email, since both he and the recipient are now in an adversarial role)

What happens next is pure magic – The sales person breaks DON’T #2, by sending an email containing the following statement:

“I just clicked on your link 50 times. Pay per click hurts. Found you on page 2 of the sponsored links. Call me for an advertising solution “ (AUTHOR’S NOTE – I love the audacity to financially hurt the company and then ask for their business – ABC)

Instead of getting the business, the sales person got the ax.

So here’s the deal – Be careful with email – Much like fire was to the cavemen – It can hav positive aspects like cooking food and providing warmth, but it can also burn your village down if you aren’t careful.