More on White Papers as Lead Generators

I blogged about my reactions to some of the salespeople who call because I downloaded research, white papers, or registered on a Web site, and – be forewarned – I’m not done venting yet.

What Are They Thinking?!?

We’ve all been there: the salesperson calls at the worst possible time and we’re in no mood to deal with the interruption.

The Secret to Successful Sales

Sitting in a coffee shop on Friday with a representative from a company that has developed a content management system, I heard him say something toward the end of our conversation that floored me. After an hour of show-and-tell on his company’s system, I was pretty sold on it. I was in the midst of calculating the ROI in my head when he mentioned a free alternative.

 

Yes, FREE. It wasn’t available yet, but would do what his system does, and would probably suit our needs.

 

Was I hearing correctly? Was he steering me away from giving him money?

 

Yes, in the short term, maybe he was.

 

But in the long term, he solidified his credibility and cemented my trust in him. And anyone in business knows that the relationship is always more important than the sale.

Walking the Walk

If you haven’t read it yet, the collaborative effort from “Five Independent Thinkers” titled We Have Always Done it That Way: 101 Things About Associations We Must Change is well worth the time and money.

Strategic Planning? Future Goals? The Minority Position

I really do get it. I really do understand the frustration with strategic planning (or lack thereof, or poor quality of…) within associations. But because the process and/or product can be faulty doesn’t necessarily mean the concept or intent of forward thinking should be chucked out the association window.