"SEND ME SOME INFORMATION"

If you've ever been in sales you have dealt with this. I am interested to see what people think about it. We were always taught as sales people to never send a media kit or information because that is someone blowing you off and trying to get you off the phone. I always wondered why we have media kits if we aren't going to send them to people. Typically our media kits were reserved for informational purposes for people trying to get familiar with the audience we delivered etc. but for some reason as an industry we were reluctant to use them.  There were many times that people would say send me me some information so what do you do? I used to send people information because, hey they asked for it and maybe they really want. And btw if you didn't send it to them and they get off the phone what becomes the next step? Now you have something to follow up with them on to try and continue a more meaningful conversation. Often times I wouldn't even talk about the media kit on the follow up, maybe a small reference to it, and then I would try and get them to talk about their business or instead of sending a general media kit, take the time to customize it for their business. 

There was this one time that a top prospect said the "dreaded" send me some information and traditionally these don't go anywhere. But I sent her information and instead of sending something general I put the time to send something specific as it related to her business. I did research on what was going on in the market and started to give her ideas on how she could take advantage of the marketplace and backed up the information with ways in which I could specifically help her. She actually read through the short powerpoint and got back to me with a time to meet a week later. I ended up closing her and for the last 10 years that has been my biggest account. If I had never "sent her information" I probably would have never opened up that opportunity. So the next time people say "Send me something" maybe you will think differently about it. Also this has happened more than once.

One thing to think about is that the world is changing. In the particular example above I was working for a radio station in Boston. Radio has been around for a long time and generally people who spend money on advertising were aware of the stations and what they had to offer. I found that the more specific I got around ideas or promotions that might make sense for a particular business the better result I would get. Today there are so many new opportunities coming out with traditional companies reinventing themselves to new online products launching that you have to start somewhere if they ask for information. Also when you are working with a product that people are excited to learn about, the conversation is a little different. They actually DO want the information. Having information to send to people can result in business and gives you the option to continue the conversation. I think what you send them is key.

I am wondering what you are doing when people say "Send me Something". I'd love to hear how you handle it....