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SinglePlatform/Constant Contact Hard sell that doesn't stop. Will talk you into and then out of doing business with them. New York City Nationwide
I received an unsolicited call from “Alexa at Constant Contact" regarding some confusion around the web presence and NAP (name, address, phone number) info of one of my companies – “we need to confirm and update your information”. I was already aware that there was an issue (we’re in the middle of transitioning a company to a different identity) so, even though I was pretty sure this was a half-truth to get me on a sales call, I was willing to see. We set a time to connect and things started fairly well.
Alexa presented her product and feature set while doing a respectable job of gaining an understanding of our somewhat convoluted situation with this particular set of companies. I pulled her off her scripts continually with questions and lots of detail about the direction we were taking with this situation. She was able to roll into a real conversation, integrate what I shared with her and pull me back to her scripts/process fairly well. I was impressed with both her and the feature/service set she presented and thought SinglePlatform might be a good fit for the company in question - and potentially for several of our other companies as well. I WAS SOLD and was pretty much thinking about how to roll this out across our other companies as well.
As expected, Alexa "assumed the sale" several times and tried to move forward into the data collection phase of the process (i.e. setting up the account). I gave her the benefit of the doubt and explained many times and many ways that I was definitely interested in their services but not in a position to get started right now. I explained that there were still some name/address/phone decisions to make as we combine 2 companies and move them to a new identity/domain. I was not being hesitant or just trying to get her off the phone; there are legitimate reasons not to move forward with this yet - not to mention how full my plate is right now.
My being impressed with Alexa changed rapidly as it became apparent that she was either going to sign me today or burn the bridge. In spite of explaining that I was going to be late for a presentation of my own (and that I still had some prep and printing to do), she just kept going around the circle. I became less and less polite and clearer with my intentions without avail. I asked for her contact information so that I could get back to her in 4 to 6 weeks when we were ready to go, but that fell on deaf ears as she continued to ramp up her hard sell, eventually to the point of me just having to hang up on her (and I NEVER do that). It's obvious now that her instructions are to get a either commitment or keep working it until you get hung up on. Quite the business model.
As a result of her nagging persistence, I ended up having to reschedule my presentation so now I’ve had time to get angry, time to see the negative reviews of the company all over the Internet. (Apparently a refund from this company is something that never happens, and there are many that have not experience the positive benefits of which Alexa was trying to convince me), snf time to write this.
Here’s the deal sweetheart (I’m sure eventually Alexa will read this). I’m not a New Yorker. I’m a Midwesterner. We do what we say and say what we’ll do. I was fair, considerate, truthful and straightforward with you, but in spite of your skill, you were unable to interact with me as a person – you pretended well at first, but I was just an object upon which you practiced your pitch. It’s not a matter of “if”, but of “when” you will decide that you can’t live your life like this.
I don’t disrespect people or jerk them around. I don’t close sales by outtalking anyone, and as I explained on the phone, the harder your sell, the less confidence I have in your product/company. The hard sell crap your immature self-centered managers are teaching you is just that – an unsustainable, outdated business model that lives and dies on forced sales, not relationships. I’m sure you’ve all had to watch at least one of the “coffee is for closers” movies out there and there’s probably a little bell they ring every time one of you signs someone up. You were in a good place to close not just one business, but SEVERAL (not to mention all the businesses you don’t know about that I provide marketing services for). Your managers have done you a great disservice.
According to their website, "SinglePlatform is a Constant Contact company, an organization dedicated to helping small businesses, associations, and nonprofits create and build lasting customer relationships". How ironic. And laughable.
I will NOT be doing business with SinglePlatform. Furthermore, our current plans to use Constant Contact will be cancelled (a decision that had also already been made) and we now have to find a different platform.
Having spent most of my life in sales, I am reminded that THIS is the kind of sales that give the rest of us a bad name – and I will have nothing to do with it. The rest of you: enter at your own risk.