Failure to share information kills sales

On a weekly basis, I receive an email that sounds something like this:

“X here, from XXX, the all-in-one platform to create and sell XXX. I came across your Marketing Automation Migration series and really love your content and style. It’s really cool to see what you’re using for your automation systems.

I think it makes sense for us to partner up, since our audiences align. We’re all about empowering XXX, and we’ve helped over 8k entrepreneurs set up their XXX (XXX is a fan btw). If you’re looking for an affordable solution for your audience, we should definitely talk. We can set you up with a revenue share and offer them a discount so it’s a win-win.”

This is a reasonably well-written sales pitch. It presented the benefits clearly. The author actually read my material. They know the space reasonably well, well enough to name drop a friend.

So what’s the problem here?

I’m already a customer.

I feel bad for this sales professional. He put actual effort into crafting a reasonable pitch. He did his homework. What he didn’t have was clear insight into who his company’s customers already are. If he followed me out of genuine interest, he could still reach out and offer an upset or even just a “hi, how are you”. But his company failed to provide him with that information. His company failed him.

If you’re a marketer or especially a marketing technologist, make every effort to provide your people easy access to vital business data, like CRMs, marketing automation software, etc. You’ll save money, make more money, save people time, and reduce frustration. If you’ve got a corporate culture that penalizes open sharing of information within the walls of your company, find a different company to work at, because your current company is pointing a gun at its foot and pulling the trigger every day.

Information is the currency of the knowledge economy. Give it to everyone in your organization that you practically and reasonably can, and real currency will follow.