Yesterday at 6:57 AM I got a call from Rep for a leading internet marketing and analytics company. I thought that anyone that worked for a company of this stature should be very internet savvy. I was wrong. It was very obvious that this woman had not done her homework or she would not have called me so early in the morning. She had my name, number and even a company name, but she did not know city in which I lived and worked. So I assume that she had not done her research and she was just calling the next name on the list. I was just another lead.
To paraphrase John Merrick in The Elephant Man ~ I am not a lead! I am a human being! or “Only you can validate a lead, so GTS”
What is GTS? It is an acronym for a tried and true lead validation system, that even the least tech savvy, like the person that called me yesterday, can use. GTS – Google That Shit.
If the Rep had entered any two variables about me into any search engine, I am sure she could have found me on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. If she had done that, she would have known where I lived and worked, but more importantly, she would have learned many things about me that might have helped her on the call and maybe in a future sale. Now, because she did not do her research, I doubt that I will trust the company in the future.
So the next time before you pick up the phone or draft an email to a stranger about business, validate the lead with GTS.
Google That Shit!
Entrepreneur, editor, social media observer/commentator. Contributing Editor of food & wine destination @bottlebuzz. Android & iPhone fan. Partner @dgtldndln.
Five Reasons Why the Android, May Not Beat the iPhone
October 8, 2009 in Android, Commentary, Google by admin | 2 comments
It seems like whenever I write a lengthy blogpost, the posts are motivated by a ‘slap myself in the forehead’ moment after reading a silly or stupid post written by someone else. I promise that in the future I will try to be positive and proactive and not negative and reactive. Okay, I won’t promise, but I will work on it. But until then….
Yesterday I read a silly and overly optimistic post on ZDnet’s, The ToyBox, written by Andrew Nusca, titled “Five Reasons Google Android smartphones will beat iPhone, Blackberry, WinMo.” All I can ask is, “Is he using the same Android phone as me?” As I said in a previous post, “My Take On Android’s First Year,” I like the Android, but it has a long way to go. Google has to get behind it and really market it, if it wants to catch up with the iPhone. In a response to Mr Nusca’s post, here are my Five Reasons Why the Android, May Not Beat the iPhone.
1. The Android Market stinks. (See My Take on Android First Year)
2. Android is improving slowly and when it does, no one knows it’s coming. Last week’s release of Donut Android 1.6 caught many people off guard. Plus there are rumors that the judging of ADC2 had to be wrapped early, because many of the apps entered into the challenge were broken by the new release. It’s a good thing this was just an app contest and not a challenge to put man on Mars.
3. The Android system may be an open OS, but as far as I can tell only boys interested in building Tower Defense games as apps are doing any serious work for the platform. I spent a good part of the last week using the ADC2 judging app on the phone and it was as exciting as watching paint dry. I taught Dreamweaver classes at Emerson College and got better looking stuff in the first week of class from Freshman.
4. Yeah, the Android will run on phones from several manufacturers. So we will have three or four companies, all trying to beat each other in the marketplace using different methods to out sell each other. Sounds like WinMo to me. That really worked.
5. The Android combines the best of what’s out there? All I can say is, Wiki the Tucker, Newton, DeLorean, 3DO, etc. just cuz it’s gooder don’t mean it’s a winner.
In summary, I have to say, once again, I love the Android phone, but Google has to get behind the system and market the hell out of this great phone concept.
Tags: Android, App Store, Emerson College, Google, iPhone, OSX, ZDNet