Box.com terror tactics sales model. Is there an alternative?

I have heard about it before. B2C2B with a touch of scare up sales marketing on the side. I’m not really criticizing it, I was just unsure if it really works and if it’s ethical. Now I know it does work, and now I’m sure it is unethical. I got a message from Box today, it claimed that 35 of our employees are using Box and I as an employer have no control over them using the services.

Let’s talk?

Even if I have suspected that such could happen one day, I was really surprised that so many of our employees were signed up on Box already. Having an employee-friendly work environment and knowing that there are a few other services that we use for document storage, I couldn’t stop but wonder if there are some files that shouldn’t be on Box.com considering our strict information storage policies?

So what’s the expectation here? What thoughts are driven to my head by this “marketing” email? Am I as an employer to take over private employee accounts by signing up for a corporate access? Should I check with my employees if we’re still in compliance with our information storage policies?

I do believe such “marketing” works, but it doesn’t “work” very well for the employees. Imagine there would be a drug abuse rehab service that would supply free drugs to everyone who signs up and then sends an email to their friends and family ratting them out?

Better show cases exist in our “techie” world. There’re Twilio and DigitalOcean, where developers start to use the services, find it helpful and like it so much, that they ask and encourage companies they work for to use it as well. But there is a problem — it requires a great and almost irreplaceable product. That brings us to the biggest dilemma — if we have a “scare up sales marketing” option — is it worth using it? should we be allowed to? How is it going to affect lives of our users? Big old-school companies receiving such email message will most likely start to investigate and try to discipline their employees, all this because the user liked your service.

There should be a better way. How about we reach out to companies saying that they should sign up for a corporate account because our product is just what they need and many of their employees are using it already? All they need to do to find out why it is a must-have for their productivity, is go and ask their own employees.

Yes, it’s going to affect your conversion rate but wait, the tactics of scaring your users will affect the conversion rate even more. Your user base might just stop using your service and start telling others not to because you report them to their boss and that makes your boss anything but happy.

Negative motivation never helped people in the long run. Let’s think about the future, your company’s future and what’s more important — the future of your people.