There is nothing worse than some one openly bending the truth in their first sales contact with you. It will blow your credibility and any chance that you ever had of some one taking you or your company seriously.

Why am i saying this?

Because it just happened to me. I just received this email:

Hello,

My name is xxxxx xxxxxx and I called earlier yesterday on behalf of Present.ly http://www.presently.com/ (An award-winning microblogging SaaS – Software as a Service platform that keeps your company connected in real-time). They are working with SalesConx to help them find more companies that could benefit from working with them.

And then the email went on to invite me to a webinar. Now, I’m not even going to get into the rights or wrongs of the general text of the email because there was something far more obviously wrong.

“I called earlier yesterday” – This might have happened as I do get calls on my mobile that are unaccounted for. If it was to my office, I definitely would have got the message. What struck me as being economical with the truth was the fact That there were  at least 50 email addresses visible in the ‘to’ box. Now I know it might have been possible to call all those people yesterday morning  but the odds of all fifty being out and requiring an email?

I don’t know what this company does and I don’t ever want to know. This obvious bending of the truth has made a big impact on their reputation with me.

Consider what tactics you use to approach other businesses. Does your method smack of bending the truth or dishonesty?