I Am Not A Number

I am not a number, I am a human. For those of you who are treating your customers like data points, you're driving away real business opportunities.

At the recent industry conference, I met several fellow attendees with whom I may actually want to do business, that is, buy their offering. So I connected through email. Click-click and I'm in their sales tornado receiving an onslaught of automated sales emails. Sure, with a large enough list, the marketing numbers work because even a blind pig will find a truffle now and then. And with enough blind pigs, you can do well in the truffle finding business.

But look at it from my, the customer, point-of-view. I hardly know you and have no sense of who you are or how you can help me (or how I can help you). And before I have a chance to have a conversation so that I can decide if you are real, credible, and authentic, I get the hard sell. That tells me everything I need to know about you.

The sad part is that your product may be what I actually need but I will never buy from you because I don't trust you. Why? Because it's obvious that your real interest lies in your sale and not my needs. I don't need another narcissist in my life.

For those of you who've respected me as a person, I thank you. We'll be talking soon.