Pitch Slapping on LinkedIn: Why It Kills Sales.

I recently discussed the rise of pitch slapping and its serious consequences for sales reps and prospects alike with Andy Paul, Host of The Sales Enablement Podcast in the USA. We both shared the same concerns.

You can listen to it here.

I'll come to this more specifically shortly. First though, allow me to get you on the same page and lead you into the subject matter:

1. Emails

Have you ever received spam emails?

Sorry, dumb question. Of course you have. We all have.

If you're like me, you'll probably have a quick scan to see whether there is something half-interesting there. And then you'll move on.

Fact is, we have become so used to unexpected email invitations to get-rich-quick schemes, to fantastical offers, and to requests for 15 minutes of our time, that most of us don't pay much attention to them any longer. (Which makes one wonder why sellers and marketers persist with them, but that's another story.)

2. Cold Calls

So, what about cold calls?

It's the same as with emails, more or less. We've all received phone calls out of the blue from people we don't know. They're trying to get us interested in whatever latest widget, service, or solution that will supposedly solve all our problems the minute we pay up.

I recently did a little research on cold calling and its surprising aspects. The findings are revealed in this short LinkedIn article, called "The Surprising Answer To: Does Cold Calling Still Work?" Have a look at it , if you like.

3. Social Media

There is a more sinister form of unsolicited sales outreach.

It is a modern version of the old "bait-and-switch" selling technique, but it takes place on social media:

You are first baited under an innocent-sounding pretext, only to be immediately confronted by an unexpected sales pitch.

You may even have experienced this yourself.

For example: Someone you don't know reaches out to you on LinkedIn, asking to connect with you. The reason they give is that they, say, have some contacts or interests in common with you.

And what happened after you innocently agree to connect with them?

That's right: Bam! They hit you up with their sales pitch, even though they have no idea whether you are even remotely interested in what they are selling.

Did you know there is a term for this kind of sales approach? 

It's called Pitch Slapping.

That's right. And it's just as ugly as it sounds.

I recently ran a poll on LinkedIn that has so far attracted over 6,600 view, 154 votes and more than 60 comments.

You can see the poll results below:

Judging by the responses, it seems that pitch slapping is alive and well on LinkedIn.

Only very few LinkedIn users have not not experience it. Interestingly, there were a few respondents who had not realized they are in fact pitch slappers themselves. So I hope the poll opened a few eyes among these people.

Fact is, no-one wants to be pitch slapped.

The unintended consequence of all these lazy top-of-the-funnel prospecting practices is that buyers have become jaded and are tuning out.

Even worse, since the pandemic they have been retreating even further into their tortoise shell:

"Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested!"

Now, buyers' tolerance for cold solicitations is completely gone. This makes it even harder for all sellers - both good and bad - to reach their prospects.

So, here is my appeal to Marketers, SDRs and to Sellers everywhere:

Stop selling like it's still 2018!

Stop your Pitch Slapping!

There is a far better, proven, more effective and successful way of engaging and reaching out to your ideal customers.

If you want to know more, I invite you to take a look here.

To your selling success!

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