Audience distractions are annoying to speakers and attendees

March 31st, 2010 | Posted in Kudos & Blunders, uncategorized | No Comments
Tags: , , ,

Have you ever felt like everyone was staring at you in disgust, even though they weren’t? That’s how I felt last week when I forgot to put my cell phone on vibrate and it rang loudly in a small room at an event. Thankfully I moved so fast that it didn’t ring twice. But it was still embarrassing – especially since the incident is one my biggest pet peeves. Hard to believe that I’m the one who tends to miss calls because my phone generally stays on vibrate.
It was a good reminder that while nobody is perfect, there’s a big difference in making a mistake and just being plain inconsiderate at events. Texting, chewing food loudly and messing with body parts is rude while speakers are talking at events. Actions like talking and fumbling through purses is bothersome to audience members too.
I’ll never forget the guy who actually answered his phone during a funeral. Unfortunately he chose to have a short conversation instead of quickly turning off the device.
It doesn’t matter how much education or experience a person has, it’s hard to view them the same when they’re rude at a conference, program or event.
One of my colleagues sent me an e-mail from an out-of-state convention last week because she couldn’t concentrate on a speaker, thanks to a guy sitting in front of her who continually tried to pluck a hair out of his ear. “He wasn’t too discreet to those of us sitting behind him,” she said. It was so annoying that she got up and moved.
I can relate. A couple of days later, I tried to listen to a speaker at a big event involving state officials and business expansion opportunities. Unfortunately a guy on the second row kept eating chips so loudly that it was a challenge. A few glares didn’t seem to phase him.
Here’s a simple reminder and plea to all of the personal-device
junkies, eating and body part picker offenders: Be aware of your surroundings and treat people the way you want to be treated.
And to speakers who might have unintentional rude folks in the audience, consider prefacing your remarks by asking event attendees to abstain from using handheld devices or turn phones to vibrate.

It’s Best to Seek Permission Before Making a Sales Pitch by E-Mail

March 19th, 2010 | Posted in Kudos & Blunders | No Comments
Tags: , , , ,

It’s great when a client seeks you out for your expertise, service or products, but everyone has to market – especially in this economy. Why shoot yourself in the foot with poorly thought out e-mail marketing sales pitches?
As a writer, I personally prefer an e-mailed story pitch, followed by a call. It’s an opportunity to get a better idea about what the person wants before we have a conversation. But pitching a story is so different from pitching a service or product that costs money.
People like to do business with people that they like and trust. A form pitch letter, sent by e-mail, hardly leaves a good impression. Sure it can be done. But trust me, it’s not easy getting over a bad first impression.
Business coach Diane Helbig calls sales pitches through this medium, “worse than a waste of time.” People do it for one reason: It’s easy.
“It sends a really bad impression that you don’t know what you’re doing or you’re blindly prospecting,” she said. “You’re hoping for anything from anybody and that’s not how people do business.”
“Sales is about permission. When people prospect by e-mail they haven’t gotten permission to reach out to you,” she said.
Clearly this is one of Helbig’s pet peeves. But something tells me she wouldn’t care about the medium nearly as much if the salesperson bothered to do some research before pushing the send button.
Just last week, a woman e-mailed her a sales pitch because she thought Helbig was still on the board of directors for a local chamber of commerce. One problem: She left the board four years ago.
Who wants to feel like a number on a sales prospect list. Business etiquette involves feelings. And people want to feel valued. They want to feel like someone really wants their business.
Lately, Helbig has been so frustrated by e-mailed sales pitches that she’s taken the liberty to respond with advice. The author of “Lemonade Stand Selling: Accelerate Your Small Business Growth,” let’s them know exactly how she feels.
“I tell them, that as a business coach and author of a sales book, I think e-mail prospecting is a really bad idea,” she said. “They didn’t ask for my opinion. But then again, I didn’t ask to be contacted.”