In my last post I mentioned the Guerrilla E-Marketing Seminar I was due to attend and I discussed my fears about hard selling and aggressive, thoughtless tactics. I didn’t really know what to expect but my fears were unfounded and it was totally different to every other training seminar (post University) that I’ve ever been to.

I went with my other half who also happens to be a client. I’ve been instrumental in formulating the business’ communication strategy as well as the marketing, SEO* and SMM** activities. Consequently he thought it would be useful for us both to compare our work with the advice given in the seminar. I was also hoping to pick up some new tricks.    

What I did pick up was some good quality coffee and a delicious shortbread. As I sat through the presentation I realised that everything being talked about was either stuff we already do or stuff we’re planning on doing soon.

I didn’t learn a lot (aside from a few pieces of useful software) but the statistics were encouraging and I found myself warming to our speaker. He did convince me that e-mail marketing doesn’t have to be about harassing people or following cold leads – which was the impression I’d had before. Instead it can be organic, friendly and useful to both parties. And there’s some great software out there to help us monitor our progress!

It’s definitely given us both plenty of ideas although not necessarily in the direction the organisers intended! 

* Search Engine Optimisation ** Social Media Marketing

I got a letter in the post today about an e-marketing event I’m due to attend next week. It’s entitled Guerrilla e-marketing which makes me wonder how the simple object of selling turned into an act of warfare.

I never really thought about sales until I took a job that required me to sell stuff. I wasn’t called a salesperson. I was not in marketing. I was an advisor. I was a customer advisor trying to sell financial products. Now, before you all hit the off switch and throw your computer out in disgust I should point out that I left that job some years ago. I left because the role was not what I had been promised and because I found out that I hated selling.

When I joined I was told that my role would be largely about customer service and helping people. I was told to discuss products with customers that I thought would be helpful. The longer I stayed there the more apparent it became that what they actually wanted was for me to ask every single customer if they wanted some product or other – a loan, an overdraft, a savings account (told you it was years ago!). If you couldn’t match them with a product how about an account review?

I was bad. Very bad at sales. Sometimes I sat next to the guy who was the best at sales and I could hear him saying the same thing to every single customer. I wondered if the customers in the queue behind could hear him repeating himself as well. He was playing the numbers game – nothing fancy – no tricks – it probably annoyed a lot of people but he got his sales.

Strangely I never got the urge to adopt his technique. I found it impersonal and I knew that if I was a customer I would be desperate to get away from him and I certainly wouldn’t be falling for his sales pitch. Then again, perhaps I viewed it very differently from my side of the counter. After all, I got to listen to it all day. Customers would hear it much less and in a completely different context. Even so, it still seems like an aggressive and callous sales technique and I HATE aggressive or thoughtless selling!

That’s why I’m nervous about the guerrilla e-marketing event. I hope it will be educational and filled with useful tips and techniques but I’m worried they’ll be telling me I need to e-shot the whole of the UK threatening their children. Is it an overreaction based on my previous bad experience with sales?

I will let you know how it goes. In the meantime I’d be interested to hear about your sales experiences from either side of the counter, computer or headset!