For any salesperson, regardless of what they are selling, there’s a fine line that must be walked between being overly aggressive and annoying, and out-of-sight, out-of-mind. With new technologies out there to give salespeople more access to potential customers and insight into what their potential customers are doing it should be easier to walk this line right? Not necessarily.  Here are a few examples of how technology, used incorrectly, can actually work against a salesperson and turn off a potential client faster than ever before.

Social Networks

Social networks can be a salespersons best friend, when used correctly. Following clients on Twitter can give you insight into what is going on in your prospective client’s professional and personal lives and can help you mold your sales pitch or follow-up meeting appropriately. LinkedIn is also a great site where you can reach out directly to potential clients who may share a common contact, group, company or interest with you, turning a cold call, lukewarm.

Social networks can also quickly kill any chance you might have a landing a deal with a potential client. Trying to add a prospect as a friend on Facebook or MySpace, two sites that are known more for networking between friends and family and are used for personal rather than professional interaction, can been seen as an invasion of privacy almost as bad as a salesperson showing up at your home during dinner.  Also, using the information you find on social networks is another fine line that must be walked. Commented to your potential client on a Twitter post they made 15 minutes ago and how they changed their profile picture on LinkedIn can come across as “stalkerish”.

Analytics

Analytics can be a great tool to give you insight into where you potential client is going on your website or where they are clicking on your email messages and if they are opening them. Knowing that they checked out a particular link, service line or spent significant time looking at a client case study can give you the 1-2 punch to mold your messaging to fit exactly what your prospect is looking for to land a deal. Adversely, letting your potential client know that YOU KNOW that they spent 10 minutes looking at that case study, clicked 3 links in your email, and checked out your pricing and services lines can give them that “big brother is watching…” feeling and contacting them minutes after they do these actions can quickly scare them away, especially if they are just doing some preliminary research and aren’t ready for the heavy selling just yet.

Access

Salespeople today have unprecedented access to their potential clients. We can send a fax, letter, email, text message, instant message, call their office, call their cell phone, leave voicemails and send messages on LinkedIn and other social networks. Using this prospect access with responsibility is yet another fine line that a salesperson must walk.  Maybe your prospect was stuck in an all day meeting and missed your call. Once they finally return to their desk and see that not only did you call and leave a voicemail, and thanks to caller ID saw that you called 7 times, but you also sent 2 emails and an instant message can quickly turn your relationship sour.

So to wrap things up, no matter what new technologies may come, salespeople will still have to continue using good judgment and walking that very fine line to be successful.  With every potential client responding differently to your outreach messaging and methods, that line is getting narrower every day.