Sales. See the title before you know the person, and they’re already insincere. That’s why we cringe at the idea of visiting a car dealership or dreaded auto repair. I don’t want to be sold to. It makes me feel exploited and naive.
So- I get why organizations, particularly consumer tech companies, embrace religious terminology. I have my concerns with the blending of consumer culture and religion but evangelist just doesn’t sound like sales man to me. The word evangelist evokes images of genuine passion and zeal. Avinash Kaushik, is an Analytics Evangelist for Google. When I tell you he is on FIRE for web analytics, it is an understatement.
I walked into the Apple store recently and spoke at length with a “genius” (that’s what they call their sales associates) and the show began. She raved about the Mac Book Pro. She was a film student who used Premiere and said it worked like a dream. She called over someone else that had this newer model, and experience with the software I would use and she went on and on about it.
The truth is that if I had $3,000 in discretionary funds that day, I’d own a Mac.
Stop selling and start converting.