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No I did not, and that's the issue, a lot of these people are not actually interested in making things any better, they'd rather not be disturbed instead. And t

No I did not, and that's the issue, a lot of these people are not actually interested in making things any better, they'd rather not be disturbed instead. And then something like what happened today happens. And then people are misdirecting blame to others. The leadership is in most cases to blame.

justinclift 9y ago
Interesting. What approach did you use to tell them about the product they hadn't heard of before?
- raarts 9y ago
  The problem is, that for CTOs, there are so many people who 'know' how to make things better for them. You can't listen to them all.
- ajeet_dhaliwal 9y ago
  In that particular case I contacted them by email, introduced myself and explained why I had contacted them specifically, what I knew about what they were doing and the problem I was solving and asked if they wanted to discuss it. They responded and said they were not interested. I replied and said that's fine, if they change their mind to get back in touch. They wrote back again with the 'foad' response as you suggested, really quite a shock considering I had expressed already that it was all good and I had considered it the end of the conversation and didn't actually expect a reply. Unless I actually share the emails with you I'm sure it just sounds like he said she said but I do think I'm describing this quite accurately, most people did not reply like this, especially people who I had researched and were generally interested in software and tech, they were either interested in discussing the opportunity or calmly explained why they were already good. I am just providing my experience of some bad leadership at the top when it comes to software/tech.
  - justinclift 9y ago
    Well, it certainly sounds like you spammed them. :(
    - ajeet_dhaliwal 9y ago
      There is a distinction between spam email and a personalized targeted sales email. Mine was most definitely not spam.
      - nasalgoat 9y ago
        I receive about 10-20 unsolicited sales emails a day that are "personalized", which I promptly delete. If I am looking for a product, I will look for it. As far as I'm concerned, your emails are spam.
        yourapostasy 9y ago
        > I am looking for a product, I will look for it. Note that this attitude is what pushes some sales teams away from reaching out to line management, and towards C-level-targeted sales. If you hate "golf-cart sales" outcomes where a C-level forces a solution down your throat, then learning how to communicate with sales people will richly pay off. It is part of managing upwards, by short-circuiting sales warm approaches to the management you report to, and turning them into your allies to help you pitch your priorities that happen to align with their sales goals. I am up front with the sales people who approach me, and tell them when I anticipate the problem space they solve will rotate onto my front burners, my anticipated budget to switch (usually in the form of "if I switch to what you propose, I only have $X to do it with, all in, software and services"), the benefits from my current solution I want to ensure stay in place, and the pain points I want to solve. That usually ends the conversation right there and then, I'm tagged "no-contact" in their CRM, and the spam disappears.
        justinclift 9y ago
        In an ideal world, spammers wouldn't exist. Or at least C-level people who respond non-negatively, thus encouraging them to keep on doing it. :( If people wonder why spam is a problem, it's pretty much because enough idiots respond to keep it worthwhile.

justinclift 9y ago

Interesting. What approach did you use to tell them about the product they hadn't heard of before?

raarts 9y ago
The problem is, that for CTOs, there are so many people who 'know' how to make things better for them. You can't listen to them all.
ajeet_dhaliwal 9y ago
In that particular case I contacted them by email, introduced myself and explained why I had contacted them specifically, what I knew about what they were doing and the problem I was solving and asked if they wanted to discuss it. They responded and said they were not interested. I replied and said that's fine, if they change their mind to get back in touch. They wrote back again with the 'foad' response as you suggested, really quite a shock considering I had expressed already that it was all good and I had considered it the end of the conversation and didn't actually expect a reply. Unless I actually share the emails with you I'm sure it just sounds like he said she said but I do think I'm describing this quite accurately, most people did not reply like this, especially people who I had researched and were generally interested in software and tech, they were either interested in discussing the opportunity or calmly explained why they were already good. I am just providing my experience of some bad leadership at the top when it comes to software/tech.
- justinclift 9y ago
  Well, it certainly sounds like you spammed them. :(
  - ajeet_dhaliwal 9y ago
    There is a distinction between spam email and a personalized targeted sales email. Mine was most definitely not spam.
    - nasalgoat 9y ago
      I receive about 10-20 unsolicited sales emails a day that are "personalized", which I promptly delete. If I am looking for a product, I will look for it. As far as I'm concerned, your emails are spam.
      - yourapostasy 9y ago
        > I am looking for a product, I will look for it. Note that this attitude is what pushes some sales teams away from reaching out to line management, and towards C-level-targeted sales. If you hate "golf-cart sales" outcomes where a C-level forces a solution down your throat, then learning how to communicate with sales people will richly pay off. It is part of managing upwards, by short-circuiting sales warm approaches to the management you report to, and turning them into your allies to help you pitch your priorities that happen to align with their sales goals. I am up front with the sales people who approach me, and tell them when I anticipate the problem space they solve will rotate onto my front burners, my anticipated budget to switch (usually in the form of "if I switch to what you propose, I only have $X to do it with, all in, software and services"), the benefits from my current solution I want to ensure stay in place, and the pain points I want to solve. That usually ends the conversation right there and then, I'm tagged "no-contact" in their CRM, and the spam disappears.
        justinclift 9y ago
        In an ideal world, spammers wouldn't exist. Or at least C-level people who respond non-negatively, thus encouraging them to keep on doing it. :( If people wonder why spam is a problem, it's pretty much because enough idiots respond to keep it worthwhile.