A couple of days ago, moments after the person viewed my profile on LinkedIn (I got the notification), I received an email that said:
Hi Chris,
I was trying to reach you over the phone but couldn’t connect. Could we catch up for a quick five minutes chat today/tomorrow? Appreciate your time.
There was no call (I checked). There was no voicemail.
To be clear: you do not attempt to initiate a relationship built on trust by lying to get in the door. I can’t imagine how anyone thought this was successful sales tactic. For those sales targets where this might work, I would question whether they had the basic intelligence to even understand what they were being sold. maybe that’s the point.
For the rest of you that rely on having a worthwhile reputation in your sales efforts, all I can say is, be honest. If you want to reach someone via email, then be brilliant in that email. If you’re going to call, make the conversation worth it. Whatever your sales preference, execute on it with excellence. but whatever you do, don’t lie.
Finding Greatness 