Whither the consumer? Are we listening or are we too busy pushing our message?

One of the things that always gets to me is when agents talk about cold-calling as if it is some sort of test of "character."  Really?  When did being what the vast majority of the public considers an irritant become a test of character?   Seriously, the public has made itself abundantly clear on this issue.  They don't want phone solicitation.  They don't like phone solicitation.  In fact, the issue reaches beyond phone solicitation.  For a long, long time, the public has being saying quite simply that they wish to be left in peace and that if they need our services, they will reach out to us.  

In a recent blog -by Gabrielle Rhind,  "Oh Tell Me WHy Can't This Be Love?!" the author was recounting a particularly rough morning of cold-calling.  Lenn Harley quite rationally asked "Why stake yourself out?"  suggesting (as she often does) that  people practice "pull advertising" over "push" advertising.  The response was that cold calling expireds "builds character."  While I'm sure that the response was well intentioned - my gut reaction was  "Huh? "

What about what the consumer wants?   Do the needs and desire of the potential client to be left in peace factor into this in any way?  You see, I don't feel sorry for someone who sets themselves up for the type of hostility this blogger encountered.  They knew going into the cold-calling session that there are many who deeply resent having their day interrupted by a sales person.  The target in this case was people with expired listings.  Most expireds are bombarded with phone calls and have every right to be annoyed by the tsunami of calls clogging up their day and their voice mail.  It's not surprising that the response might be less than cordial.

Personally, I find the persistence of cold-calling surprising since it is pretty obvious that  "the people have spoken" on this issue.  Nowhere is public sentiment more apparent than in its response to the DNC list.   When the US DNC list became available - Americans signed up in DROVES.  76% of the American public  eventually signed on to the DNC.    When it was time for Congress to renew the DNC, there was no question as to whether it would be renewed.  Renewing was a win- win - and was one of the few issues in which right or left-leaning everyone was pretty much on the same page.  In Canada, demand was so high, the first day the DNC was available,  the server couldn't handle the volume and crashed.  Americans LOVE the DNC list  so much that they are  clambering for "do not mail," "do not email,"  "do not fax,"....well you get the idea.  The bottom line is this: the public has pretty much given us a big resounding "NO!" to solicitation in general.  In fact, the public is pretty much saying "LEAVE ME BE!" loud and clear.

How we came to this state of affairs is no mystery.  Just a few years ago, I was not in sales and was part of the masses that were "just saying NO" to phone solicitation and most other forms of what Lenn Harley refers to as "push marketing."  What had started out as a minor annoyance had rapidly become a tidal wave of advertising invading everyones home, email, voice mail and every other aspect of  life.  As sales competition increased everyone started trying to shout above the "noise" creating ever more "noise" in the process.  As people felt increasingly  stalked and as marketeering seemed to invade every corner of people's lives, the public got fed up and eventually became infuriated by the bombardment.  As the public sought to shelter itself from the barrage, the undaunted marketeers just kept dialing up the volume to counteract  the attempts to escape by using clever mechanisms such as auto-redial so the phone would ring again and again and again until someone would pick up.  I was in grad school in the years immediately prior to the DNC - often working 16 hours at a stretch. I would get home to find my voice mail FILLED - almost every single night.   There were usually two-three legitimate messages from family and friends followed by about 17 solicitations along with several hang-ups from marketeers dialing again and again.  Later I'd get calls from family saying they couldn't get through because my voice mail was filled. Day after day of this and I had had enough.  The minute the DNC was available, I signed on and heaved a sigh of relief. 

So, what to do if you have a product or service to move?   Well, we might just try to  LISTEN TO THE PUBLIC and respect their wishes.   To gain market share, it will be increasingly necessary to  provide the public  with information that they can access  - or not - as they choose.  Write blogs with rich local content.  Yes, it takes a long time in some areas to start "sticking."  But those blogs are gifts that keep on giving long after they were posted. I've had inquiries about blogs written months and years before.  Get in gear with social networking and get your blog/web site out there in the open.  Work with your SOI and publicize your on-line presence like crazy.  That's where people who are truly interested in buying or selling are beginning their searches.

For those who say cold-calling leads to a fatter wallet - I have my doubts.  The number of people they antagonized by this activity may be more of a hinderance later on than they think.  They may have gotten results by getting a couple of the more vulnerable prospects to sign on. Instant gratification is great.  But like a bowl of ice cream - it may feel good now, but the pounds that are added later aren't such fun.  The trouble with cold calling is that no one can know  how many people were left with a bad taste in their mouths.  How much future business did these agents cut themselves off from? 

This is about a paradigm shift.  The public has made itself clear. They don't wish to be bothered.  They want to be able to research the services they need in peace and quiet.    Further, the technology now exists for the public to do just that.   Think iPad not telephone and you are probably on the right track. Let them find you by offering a superior on-line experience.  If you are have the right content available on-line and if you publicize and SEO your site then you are on the right track. It may take some time to get established in this way.  It certainly is not the instant gratification of snagging a listing from a cold call.   If what you offer fulfills their needs then the public  will come to you.  Instead of ringing their phones, we need to get them to ring our phones.