I signed up for a free service called “Help a Reporter Out” (HARO) last week, which sends out emails a few times each day notifying me of reporters who are looking for expert sources. HARO is owned by Vocus, a public company that provides software for public relations professionals.
Shortly after signing up, I received a marketing email from a Vocus representative named Lauren, who hoped to sell me additional services. I don’t need them, so I deleted the email. (The email had no option to opt-out.)
Yesterday morning, Lauren left me a voice mail, in which she said: “Looks like you’ve expressed some interest in some of our marketing solutions.” I’m not sure how she gleaned that from my deleted email; nor does the HARO sign-up form say anything about opting in to marketing. (For the record, I’m not averse to marketing in exchange for receiving free services, but would like it disclosed in advance with an option to opt out.)
After she left me a voice mail, she followed up moments later with two emails, one of which was marked HIGH PRIORITY, as signified by the red exclamation point that marks a particularly important email.
That’s when things started to go downhill.
I emailed Lauren back and wrote:
“Lauren,
Please remove me from your list.
Also, there is absolutely no reason to put a red “exclamation point” on a marketing email. This is not high priority.”
My response may seem sharp, but I receive hundreds of emails per day, and senders who use the “high priority” flag to instantly grab my attention for mundane marketing purposes leave me feeling deceived.
Lauren responded. But the email she sent my way was clearly not intended for me:
“http://www.phillipsmediarelations.com/WhoWeAre/about.aspx#bradPhillips
This is who he is. Read about him before you see what he said back”
Whoops. She responded to me instead of the person at Vocus to whom she intended to send this message. Strike two. I responded:
“Lauren,
Mistake number two: sending this email to me instead of the intended recipient. This will make one heck of a blog story.”
With that, she knew I was a blogger. And had she simply apologized (or even said nothing), I would have probably let this go. But then came this response, also sent with HIGH PRIORITY:
“Brad,
I apologize for accidently forwarding you a link to your own credentials. I was simply checking out who you were and what your business is for reference purposes. Clearly my lesser than status has amused you and I look forward to the blog post. Please send me a link when its live. Sorry to waste your time.”
Wow. Her “lesser than status?” Had she spent 30 seconds on my blog, she would have seen that my usual targets are people in power, not sales reps.
“Has amused you?” No, Lauren, I’m not amused. I’m busy. And your HIGH PRIORITY emails, each of which lack an easy opt-out, takes up time I desperately need to do more important things.
Don’t mark an email urgent unless it’s, well, urgent.
This incident highlights an important point that I repeatedly make on this blog: everyone associated with your brand is a brand ambassador – and thus, every employee is a potential media spokesperson.
Early in this back and forth, I posted to my Twitter account about Vocus’s aggressive marketing:
After I signed up for HARO, @vocus followed up with marketing emails with the red “high priority” exclamation point. Bad PR. #PRFail
— Mr Media Training (@MrMediaTraining) February 20, 2013
Stacey Acevero, Vocus’s Social Media Manager, responded instantly.
@mrmediatraining Do you mind forwarding me what you received so that I may take a look? vocuspr(at)vocus(dot)com.
— Vocus (@Vocus) February 20, 2013
We exchanged numerous emails (most of which I agreed to keep off-the-record), all of which were tone-perfect, polite, conciliatory, apologetic, and professional. She’s exactly the right type of person to manage a company’s social media accounts.
I offered Stacey the chance to offer an on-the-record comment regarding this incident. She wrote:
“This shouldn’t have occurred. Most of the time, our process works, but a few times, mistakes are made. And, this appears to be one of those cases. We are looking into what happened and will rectify the issue. We value customer as well as prospect feedback on our practices and will use it to improve.”
But even Stacey’s response doesn’t erase the bad taste in my mouth left by the exchange with the Vocus sales rep. And that brings up another important lesson: all of the great work done by a company’s PR team can be undermined by a single employee who goes rogue.
I unsubscribed from HARO yesterday afternoon.
What do you think? Do you react as badly as I do to marketing messages marked “URGENT!” or those without an easy “opt-out” link? Please leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.
February 21st, 2013 at 9:29 am
I absolutely do… and great job on this post! As I read the first paragraph I thought “I have to keep this post open to go subscribe myself”, however, when I got to the end… nope! No subscribing for me!
Excellent post, Brad! A great example of what not to do – and a great job at teaching a well-deserved lesson.
February 21st, 2013 at 9:53 am
Wow! I’m a Vocus subscriber, and I’ve used HARO before. All I can say is that I’ve had nothing but good experiences with both, but absolutely agree that what you experienced was really absurd.
February 21st, 2013 at 9:55 am
I also forwarded your post to my account rep. Thought he’d be interested in reading it.
February 21st, 2013 at 10:01 am
Hi Brad,
It seems that Vocus’ sales reps are under a lot of pressure. I had a similar experience. I received multiple emails from Meredith wanting to set up a meeting to show me their offerings. I replied that I did not need Vocus’ services and to please remove me. I kept getting emails until I called them out on Twitter, which backs up your point that whoever handles their Twitter feed has more customer service savvy than the (probably young and inexperienced and pressured) sales reps.
It’s a sad state of affairs when people who serve the PR industry don’t get what PR means.
Deborah
February 21st, 2013 at 10:54 am
A really interesting bit of feedback, Deborah, which might highlight why I’ve had a different, more positive experience with Vocus. I actually sought them out a couple of years ago, and have been a subscriber since then. That’s different than how you and Brad came onto their radar, though. I completely agree with you that after a certain point, “no” should be enough to get them to move on to something else. It’s part of the reason why I now try to do my best to tell vendors that I am not in need of their services. I don’t want them to waste their or my time with continued outreach. But that tactic is of little help if it doesn’t get them to stop their sales calls.
February 21st, 2013 at 10:54 am
I also got a follow-up phone call (not from Lauren, but another rep) after I signed up trying to offer me other services. I declined, he pushed a little, I declined again, and he politely ended the call.
I agree with Art — HARO is a useful service, and I’ve heard good things about Vocus, but it sounds like their sales reps have guns to their heads. Of course, their sales reps probably aren’t PR professionals. (If they are, that’s really bad news.)
February 21st, 2013 at 11:46 am
I agree with Brad that her response was not professional; however, I can also see that her response was prompted by his pompous remark that “This will make one heck of a blog story.” Clearly it was a mistake on her part and she did not mean to send you an email with a link that was about yourself (or at least I hope not). You claim that “had she simply apologized (or even said nothing), I would have probably let this go.” Knowing it was a mistake that she sent that to you (she probably didnt even realize she sent it to you), you should have just “let it go.” Instead, you respond with something that is, quite frankly, antagonistic.
I have worked many years in sales and know quite well what it is like to be under the spot light for sales calls/quotas. She was just doing her job by following up with you. Im not negating that fact that what she said in response was rude, but you mildly provoked that one. Don’t think you should be going around teaching people “lessons,” they are ones to be learned through the sales experience. This just happens to be one of them.
February 21st, 2013 at 12:01 pm
John,
Thank you for your comment. I anticipated that someone might react to my post in the manner you did, so I’m glad you took the time to post it here and bring your thoughts into the open.
I agree with you that my response to her was sharp, perhaps even mildly antagonistic. But remember – I didn’t want anything from her – she was the one chasing me down. Keep in mind that:
I didn’t agree to any marketing contacts
Vocus didn’t allow me to opt out of their messages
She called me once and emailed me three times
Her call said that I had expressed an interest in their services, which I hadn’t
One of her emails, a boilerplate sales pitch, was sent HIGH PRIORITY
Her next email was sent to me by accident
Given all of that, I’d say I deserved the right to be mildly peeved. And I could easily make the case that my line notifying her that I was a blogger should have given her pause or made her seek out a supervisor instead of reacting in the manner she did.
Thanks again for your comment. I appreciate you taking the time to comment, even if you didn’t agree with the manner in which I handled this sales rep.
Best wishes,
Brad
February 21st, 2013 at 1:17 pm
I would hardly say that she was “chasing you down.” This was first contact with you correct? “Chasing Down” signals that she had been very consistent and calling you over and over again. Correct me if I am wrong please, but it just sounds like she was doing her job.
Like I said, I have been in sales for many years; I know how this works by now so let me educate you on why she called:
-Most likely Vocus owns HARO or is partnered with the service in some way. So if you went to the HARO site and input your information/responded to something on the site, your information was then transferred to her so she can follow up with you and inquire if you had any interest in looking into additional marketing services.
-If prospects do not answer you leave a voice mail/and or send an email to signal that they are attempting to contact you about X Y or Z.
-Most companies ask their employees to attempt to follow up several times before they stop working the lead. So if this was her 3rd 4th or even 5th attempt, I can 100% see your side and agree that your response was validated. If not and this is first contact (which I suspect it is from your whole spiel) then I would just think that you overreacted and probably caused more harm on her than necessary.
You say your too busy to pay attention to even unimportant marketing emails? Yet you 1. Continued on with a response to her. 2. Took to Twitter to voice your opinion. 3. Followed up with someone named Stacy in the PR dept? 4. Wrote a blog post about it.
If you get “peeved” about someone doing their job because it interfered with your time and inbox space, then I would suggest going to talk to someone about the source of this hostility you hold.
February 21st, 2013 at 1:31 pm
John,
You’re entitled to your view, and you’ve articulated it well. I disagree for the reasons I’ve already stated.
Since the story posted this morning, I’ve already heard from six other people who have experienced the same treatment from Vocus. The company has the right to dismiss the views of the seven of us (we all work in PR, their target industry), or they have the right to use the feedback to improve its marketing approach. I hope they choose the latter option.
Best wishes,
Brad
February 21st, 2013 at 2:18 pm
Brad: I’m the acting head of content and social at Vocus. Certainly, this is not an enjoyable experience as you detailed. I have forwarded your complaints (as well as the three others you mention here) on to management, and hopefully, you will not receive more communications. I will also ask that your name be removed from the database. You can also contact me directly at glivingston@vocus.com.
February 21st, 2013 at 2:23 pm
Thanks, Geoff. I appreciate you taking the time to write.
I’m heartened to learn that you’re taking a look at this. If Vocus uses this type of feedback to improve its marketing approach, I’d be open to a phone call or email from you to discuss the changes and add a follow up note to this post.
Just so you can track down the other people who mentioned having issues, you might want to check out my Twitter feed (@MrMediaTraining). Two of the people I alluded to left a comment there; the other person left a comment here.
Thanks again, and best wishes,
Brad
February 21st, 2013 at 3:12 pm
You aren’t alone on this! I wrote a blog post about my experience a few months ago. I joined HARO when it started on Facebook, and I was responding to a query from my work account. It asked me to sign-up, so the email would go through. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy when I got a call two hours later.
http://sabykid.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/111/
They really should put an opt-in message on there. Plus, Peter blogged today that he is leaving Vocus after two years of selling HARO. Hoping it stays free.
Sabrina
February 21st, 2013 at 3:18 pm
Hi Sabrina,
Thank you for your comment and the link.
What your story tells me is that Vocus has been aware of this issue (aggressive marketing, the lack of an easy opt-out) for some time, and has chosen not to take steps to correct it. “We take this seriously” means nothing if the words aren’t followed up by action. I hope this sustained drumbeat of negative press leads them to take corrective action promptly.
Thanks,
Brad
February 21st, 2013 at 3:23 pm
I have had some heinous experiences with Vocus sales, too. From just annoying to plain insulting. I like their content but everytime I am bounced back to sales and I have to remind them that I was already informed I my company wasn’t worth their time and could they please stop calling me…over and over. The deal is now if I ever did have the budget for their kind of services, I would not use them. I am usually pretty easy going but they crossed the line once and now I am just annoyed by being contacted now.
February 21st, 2013 at 3:27 pm
Mary,
Seems like this is a real problem for Vocus – FIVE people on my Twitter account have made similar comments to yours.
Therefore, I think it’s fair to say that the “We are looking into what happened and will rectify the issue” line won’t hold any water until they actually make and announce those changes.
Thanks for your comment!
Brad
February 21st, 2013 at 7:09 pm
My scar tissue experience tells me their sales agents are in pressure cooker environment. They were professional with me be but highly persistent and exhibited the level of anxiety that comes from the boss holding a gun to your head. Our own professional and time pressures today are perhaps exceeded only by the quota approach that trades short term results for lasting relationships, and isn’t that the core objective of PR? The approach may fill today’s quota but is counter productive to sustainable supplier partnerships.
February 21st, 2013 at 7:59 pm
I was thinking about this and maybe one solution would be for Vocus to offer two options with their white papers and webinars: free and you could get a sales call (and free for their existing customers) and a pay option with no sales call. I would pay for some of their content if I had the option of no sales call. But I would rather pay by the webinar or white paper, rather than say, have a subscription.
February 21st, 2013 at 10:55 pm
Leland,
Your analysis makes a lot of sense – based on these comments, it appears that the company is indeed willing to compromise longer-lasting relationships in order to close a quick sale.
What surprises me most is that no one offered an on-the-record apology. I got a “this is not an enjoyable experience as you detailed” and a “This shouldn’t have occurred,” but no “I’m sorry.” If a potential client exhibited this type of displeasure with my company’s marketing approach, I would have gotten on the phone with them within minutes to apologize. And I would have made clear both privately and publicly that one of my representatives telling a potential client that their “lesser than status” seems to “amuse you” was absolutely unacceptable.
Oh, well. Thanks for commenting.
Brad
February 22nd, 2013 at 11:12 am
[...] Phillips of Phillips Media Relations had such a thing happen to him with a PR service. He discussed it yesterday on his Mr. Media Training blog, and received a lot of support (read the comments). He signed up for a service that is marketed [...]
February 22nd, 2013 at 5:05 pm
Brad,
As a former Vocus employee, I can tell you your post is spot on. Reading it made me chuckle because I’ve been on “Lauren’s” side of the ball for this type of exchange too many times to count.
I don’t have anything truly bad to say about Vocus, but most people get blinded by the marketing and fail to see Vocus for what it really is: a sales company. Not a PR/Marketing company, not a software company, but a sales company. True, they have some pretty great products that I’ve seen do some great things when they really are a good fit for a company’s needs, but none of that is ever allowed to get in the way of the sale.
Once you accept that Vocus is a sales company, the rest gets easier. Realize that that rep is 1,000 times more motivated by her quota than to actually help you and your business. Like I said, some of the products are really great, and if they really are a fit for your business, then win-win. But since we’re all big boys and girls here, don’t for a minute assume that you are anything more than a number at any point in the entire life cycle of your relationship with them.
Like any good (read: high pressure) sales organization, every avenue for $$ is relentlessly pursued, and pursued, and pursued, until it is long dead and buried. And then there are people who dig up the dead bodies and try to shake some life into them. Reps like “Lauren” are the front line troops and have to answer to bosses under just as much (probably more) quota pressure. And so it goes, on up the chain.
If a rep hasn’t made quota and the boss asks what happened with Phillips Media Relations, “He wasn’t interested,” or, “Take me off your list,” are not valid answers. Counsel (read: orders) from your boss in a case like that is more likely to be, “Clearly he doesn’t understand xyz. Does he know about products A, B, and C? How could he not be interested in those, given his line of work? If he won’t email with you, do what it takes to get him on the phone (a whole other area of sometimes questionable tactics) and explain this to him. Let me know how that goes. You really need this sale.” Hint hint.
The point of all this? In my mind, you can’t fault Vocus the sales company for doing what it does. It’s the misconception among would-be and current customers about *who* Vocus really is that causes the problem. I actually have great respect for them, some of their products, and many of the people there. I just feel like everyone is better served when the motives of the person on the other end of that phone call / email are more fully understood.
Wendi
February 23rd, 2013 at 10:11 am
Wendi,
Thank you for your “insider’s” view! You’ve offered a fascinating insight into the company, and I’m glad to hear you thought my post was accurate.
I disagree with a couple of lines in your post: “In my mind, you can’t fault Vocus the sales company for doing what it does. It’s the misconception among would-be and current customers about *who* Vocus really is that causes the problem.”
Companies have to deal with perceptions as much as reality — and even if the reality is exactly as you describe, their failure to manage (or change to adhere to) the widely-held perception is a big problem. Otherwise, they’re in the position of blaming customer ignorance, something very few successful companies have ever gotten away with. Perhaps we’re saying the same thing and you agree with me?
Thanks again for stopping by the blog and leaving your experiences! Really appreciate your thoughtful comment.
Best wishes,
Brad
February 23rd, 2013 at 10:12 am
As a concluding comment:
No one at Vocus offered an on-the-record “I’m sorry.”
No one at Vocus pledged to change any specific policies or procedures (e.g. “We will instruct our sales staff to never use the ‘high priority’ flag for marketing emails.”).
Until they do those two things, I’d consider this a rather unsatisfactory crisis response.
February 23rd, 2013 at 1:17 pm
Brad: Two follow ups: one, if anyone was unhappy with any contact with our firm – let alone a potential client – I would be on the phone to them in a heartbeat to see what I could do to make things better, no matter what.
Our brand reputation is the greatest assett professionals have. All of our firm sales are word-of-mouth. What is said on the street can directly affect revenue.
Two, when I was teaching at MSU, I started Bassett’s Laws of Communication as a lark, and now they ring pretty. Bassett’s Laws of Communication #3: Perception is GREATER than reality.
Speech Com 101 is to be receiver oriented. The outcome is what counts; not the intention. A simple “I’m sorry” would have ended this damaging pr at the getgo. I am amazed Vocus is letting this run. The shots are obviously being called by hard ball sales exec and not by PR.
You are absolutely correct in your assessment, comments and criticisms. I wonder how long will take someone up the food chain to wake up.
March 3rd, 2013 at 4:37 pm
This is a very interesting thread. I am not a PR professional, but a small business owner looking for marketing help. Can any of you give me names of companies doing pr internet marketing with which they are happy and get good value? I have been in dialog with Vocus and their pitch is enticing, but it’s more money than I want to spend…..or maybe their rates are standard for the industry? Many thanks in advance for any help/opinions offered.
May 17th, 2013 at 6:42 pm
Curious as to why you would not just filter the emails from your inbox as I’m sure you do any other sales letters that you receive? I have filters for everyone from politicans to every type of marketing company. Once I get 2 emails, I never see them again b/c the sender gets filtered–there are literally hundreds of auto-respond emails under these various filters. It’s a great way to see how a company follows up, etc. But what’s more, it’s much shorter and less time consuming than writing a blog.
May 29th, 2013 at 3:59 pm
Glad I stumbled upon this blog! I just got off the phone with Vocus in negotiations for a possible contract. I am a small business owner in dire need of marketing help at the RIGHT budget. While I liked their products, and even their prices it seemed as if most of the work could be done by some buckling down and lots of research. Sure the products would help me save time, but it’s not time I’m looking to save.
Having said that, the rep totally put me off, and I probably won’t use them because of her attitude. I understand “high pressure sales” as I have helped drive sales in almost every job I’ve ever had, but she seem to have NO clue about my business, what I did, or what I needed. She had a week to prepare, and to be honest, I think that she should have done a good deal more research into my line of work to make sure that her pitch matched my needs. Not only did she seem to have no idea what I needed, but she kept talking over me and interrupting. She DID use all the “proper” phrases to check the pulse of the phone call, and all the wonderful tag lines that every sales company “makes” you say, but she did it at completely inappropriate times. Not to mention several of my questions went unanswered because she didn’t seem to understand what my question was, or be actively listening at all!
All in all I am very disappointed with the service received, and if this is a clear picture of what I might experience if I used their services, I think I’m going to run away.