Imagine if the guy in the picture is knocking on your front door or is walking into your office with a briefcase. More than certain, your reaction would be, “annoying salesman is trying to sale me something I don’t need.” Half way through his pitch, you would probably tell him you are not interested and show him the door. You don’t even know what he was selling, but without a doubt, you know you were in no way interested in what he has to sell. As it turns out, he was just trying to hand out vouchers for free drinks at the grand opening of a bar he owns down the street.

He did not have the slightest ounce of intent to sell you anything, but you immediately assumed he did because his appearance resembles the copier or carpet cleaning service salesman that comes by every other week. So the story ends with a “lose-lose” situation. You missed out on some free drinks (you would probably appreciate after a long day of work) and the owner was denied the opportunity to inform you about the grand opening of his bar. The moral here is no one likes being sold to.

Everyone’s definition of marketing slightly differs, but I assume we can agree that marketing is not sales. The purpose of marketing is to inform and educate the market about a product/service and its benefits. The purpose of sales is to convince someone to pay for or use the product/service.

Now think about the messaging of your marketing initiatives. Does it appear to be informative and educational or does it sound like a sales pitch? For example, if you are doing an eblast (email campaign), compare your message to the emails in your spam or trash bin. Those emails ended up in the spam or trash bin because you saw no difference between them and the copier salesman who occasionally stops by your office. If you sort though them closely, you might find some appealing offers or useful information you can benefit from.

Think about the words and phrases used in the description of the offer or the product…

“Our product is the best and is unbeatable in price. Contact us today to get your hands on one.”

“Cost efficiency is essential to the operation of a business. XYZ modules have been extensively tested by the Kellog and Harvard Business Research Scholars. Their results yield a success rate of 98.71% at enhancing cost efficiency. Learn more…”

How the wording is composed determines how the messaging is read. It is obvious the first example sounds like an email you would delete before reading the entire offer. The second offer may or may not sound like something you are interested in, but you will at least read more before moving it to the trash bin. The moment people sense the slightest hint they are being sold to, they are reluctant to absorb any additional information.

The lesson here is to not dress your marketing messaging in the apparel of a sales pitch. It may not have been your intention to compose a sales pitch, but consumers today are more sensitive than ever before. If the objective was to share a whitepaper or to invite someone to a webinar, make sure it sounds genuine and avoid trying to get someone to buy something. Just think, if the bar owner had came into your office with an Hawaiian shirt and a straw hat, you would have probably listened to what he had to say and gotten a couple of free drinks.

Willv