Pixelrage.net

Just the other day, I signed up for a free webinar. I knew the repercussions, though – I was most likely going to stuck on some cold-calling list. I went through the trouble of clicking the registration list through a proxy site, and even put in a (000) 000-0000 phone number (which the form accepted, trivially). The webinar itself was just fluff – basic information that even the newbiest of marketers already knew. Within a day, I got the inevitable e-mail, asking for a follow-up teleconference to discuss the possibility of purchasing the software that was shilled in the webinar. It was then followed up by a phone call…what the hell?

Since I had never included a proper phone number, I can only assume the company went through the trouble of looking up my company’s phone number on the internet via the trailing part of my e-mail address. To me, that’s stalking – it’s like looking up some prospective 1st date and asking her specific questions about what you saw in her Facebook album.

This entire transaction should have begin and ended with the follow-up e-mail. Instead of knowing the “secret code” of marketers and salespeople (if there is one?), they should have known that I would have had a genuine interest in their product, and followed up in a non-creepy way. Nothing’s harder than selling things to a salesman or a marketer – the best way to do it is to keep that level of understanding that any collegue would. Once you cross that line, you lose the sale…as well as your reputation!