Commentary

Crappy Sales Antics

Those of us who have been on the agency side of the fence have written about this often (myself included). For those of you who know me, you also know I write about bad agency manners as well. So today, I'm here once again to share the war stories with you.

Of course, there is a list a mile long. However, I have a word count here, dear readers. Ever since I've been writing about this, I have received countless emails from readers sharing their horror stories. Take a look at these scenarios as of recent:

Scenario: Female VP of Interactive media is juggling two meetings simultaneously, while skipping breakfast and dealing with additional workload of an employee who is out sick. She rushes out to ask the receptionist where the second meeting is, and the receptionist looks all funny. Not seeing anyone behind her, the woman asks why her receptionist friend looks bizarre. Receptionist quietly tells her that Sales Rep XYZ is here to see her. Female VP is shocked thinking she further booked her schedule out, looks at her PDA and says, "What, he's not in here?!" Within a moment, Sales Rep XYZ comes from a chair behind the woman and says, "Oh no worries I just thought I'd stop by to discuss ABC with you." She scrambles to explain that she was booked for two meetings at once and simply cannot talk any longer. She said she just needed a follow up call to know that he was on the ABC RFP. She gets frustrated, tries to politely say goodbye, and speeds off into a conference room. After sitting for 30 minutes, Sales Rep says goodbye to friendly receptionist (who is now ticked because he was not on the schedule) and departs the agency.

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Spin: If you are an agency person, you can identify with her. You know what it is like to try and keep an already busy schedule then have someone throw you into another one. You are waiting for this sales rep to get back to you but never thought he would just show up. Showing up unannounced is not a great idea...unless you are dropping something off: contracts, a proposal, SWAG (did I say that outloud?).

Conclusion: The sales rep was doing his job by building a relationship with her and supporting her needs. He may have been in the area and thought he'd catch her between meetings. He thinks he's being proactive. He doesn't realize that his unexpected visit can throw her entire day off. He also doesn't realize that he can come off looking pushy. He should have called first, said he was in the area, and THEN asked to stop by.

Scenario: Young agency hipster named Dave is a well-known and well-liked media supervisor working on a hot account with money to spend. Dave and his team are in the middle of a shortened planning process due to funds being freed up from a broadcast budget. Dave and his team are feverishly trying to create a media plan and buy. They work under the gun to develop a RFP and quickly email it out, allowing three business days for a response. They'd like to leave more time, but can't as their plan is due on day four. One site they know is a fit has yet to respond by end of day two. They do not get a phone call from the very well-known sales rep. They wait and wait. Day three blows by with absolutely no response. Dave is aggravated; he's worked late every night, and he lost his weekend trying to get this plan done. He calls his rep up and gets his voxmail. He can be straight with him so he leaves a candid message, "Look man I haven't heard back from you. You know it's a fit and I have money, but come on. You have to submit a RFP and you didn't. What the hell? You NEED to call me back ASAP." About an hour later, Dave gets a call from the rep. The rep tells Dave he was out of town in agency meetings and couldn't get back to him. Dave then gets beyond the point of frustration and asks if his rep can get him something ASAP. Rep agrees while trying to save face.

Spin: This happens quite often. The agency person most likely emailed the RFP off to his sales buddy friend. Did he call the rep to verify that he was in the office and got it? The rep should have had some sort of coverage while he was away. Although he wants to work on Dave's business personally, he could have had one or two employees do the heavy lifting while he was gone.

Conclusion: The rep could have called Dave acknowledging receipt of the RFP, told Dave he'd be out, and asked for an extension. The bottom line is that these things often happen on a whim when there is not enough time given. Communicate so you don't get burned or taint your reputation.

I could go on and on with these stories. When things like these happen, and you are under a time constraint, it could break a relationship. Thoughts? Comments? Post to the Spin Board.

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