I just got a sales call from a very large information services company.  The inside salesperson wanted me to purchase some the data they had to offer and was asking if I was the right guy.

I answered “sure” and he went into the pitch.  “I’m from XYZ company and I’d like to talk to you about buying N types of lists from us.  Have you heard of XYZ company?”

I responded “yes, we’re already a customer of yours” and then listened to a hurried thank you and a click as the salesman hurriedly hung up.

Actually, I wouldn’t dignify this person with the moniker “salesman.”  This was actually a clerk making cold calls.  A true salesman would have immediately picked up on that and asked what services we were currently purchasing, how satisfied we were with them and would look for an opportunity to add my value to my company by the purchase of those additional services.

But no.  Apparently, no new customer equaled no commission. It sure as heck left me with a worse impression of this company if that’s the kind of people they turn loose on their customers.

I suspect this person’s manager would have had an issue with the salescall, had they been monitoring it.  My question to you–are you monitoring your inside sales calls?  If not, why not?  What if your salespeople are having conversations like the one I just had?  How much money are you leaving on the table?