Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

Here’s a second list to keep in mind. (My first list is here.) All of these are “glaringly” obvious, yet people keep doing them. Guess that’s why we consultants keep repeating ourselves and saying “nothing new.”

1. You tout yourself as an “expert” yet it’s obvious you don’t follow your own advice (in sales, marketing, web sites, biz dev, whatever.)

2. You sent me a dumbed-down pre-canned sales pitch when I asked for more information.

3. You tried to dazzle me with a lot of tech jargon.

4. You tried to impress me with your company’s size or big name clients and never told me what was in it for little ol’ me.

5. You pushed for the sale before we even talked about me, me, wonderful me.

6. You pontificated about how you were going to change my life with your presentation. You didn’t.

7. You made me feel stupid about my previous purchase decisions by dissing the competition and/or my technology choices. (Apple may be able to get away with this, but you’re no Apple.) Read More: Tom Peters on Speak Not Ill of Thine Competitors

8. You didn’t return my phone calls and emails when I was following up on my proposal to you. (which you requested)

9. You cancelled our “informal get to know you” lunch (which you requested) when you found out I couldn’t give you any business right now. Real story: I was on the board of a non-profit business group which a man had been pursuing as a sales partner. When I told him that we had decided his proposal didn’t fit our needs, he said, “Well, then there’s no reason to meet with you, is there?” (Oh, and he is a marketing and networking “expert” - see #1.)

10. You consistently missed every deadline for draft materials, payments, and reviews when you were my client, yet still expected me to meet mine. (With a tip of the blog bolero to my attorney and accountant friends.)

Related Posts:
Why You Did Get My Business, List #1
Why You Didn’t Get My Business - The Retail List
“Everyone” Knows (Not)
Why I Have Trouble With “Expert”

Tags: business development, marketing, marketing troubleshooting, networking, sales