Why more companies need to LOSE CONTROL
Posted by Mark Campanale on Tue, Aug 11, 2009 @ 09:58 AM
By Mark Campanale, Marketing Manager & Social Media Trainer
Imagine going to a furniture store with the intent of purchasing a new mattress. Now imagine approaching one you like and as you attempt to sit or lie on it, a salesperson tells you that you must register all of your contact info with them before trying out the mattress. How would that make you feel? Would you buy from this company?
This is exactly what happened to me when I was looking to demo an online training program. I found 2 sites, both with the HUGE banner that read 'test drive our software now!' HOWEVER! When I clicked said banners, I was brought to a 'register with us to demo our software' page.
Why? Are they afraid I may pirate their software or share trade secrets?
I dismissed one site, but was curious as to what they would do with my info - so:
1. I registered with my real, personal info right down to the telephone #
2. I received a congratulations page - um, congrats for what? That I know who I am?
3. I was told that once I was approved (again, congrats for what?), I would receive a link via e-mail to view the demo
4. (Here's the kicker) They called me 5 minutes after I hit submit! Before I got the e-mail with the link! The salesperson left me a voicemail that said, "We noticed you signed up for a demo of our online training. I wanted to let you know that we are running a discount special for only on this particular training, so you'll need to call me soon in order to save $...blah, blah, blah."
5. Got the e-mail with the demo link the next day. It sucked.
To make it worse, she called me again, and wondered why I hadn't called her back to take advantage of her incredible offer. Did I ask for this?
I just wanted a DEMO!
This is why more companies need to LOSE CONTROL - a term coined by Social Media genius David Meerman Scott. Information that is shared freely:
- Gets feedback
- Gets viral
- Gets promoted
- Gets fans!
If you put up a wall to your product or service, potential buyers will get turned off. No one wants to get added to another mail list (unless opting in), no one wants to receive pestering phone calls.
If your product or service is that good that someone wants to copy it, well, I'd take that as a compliment.
LOSE CONTROL.