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Dear Quota Team,

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My company recently implemented a visitor tracking tool that identifies everyone browsing our website and alerts me with their name, company, job title, and LinkedIn profile in real-time, expecting me to immediately contact them mentioning their specific browsing activity. Prospects react with obvious discomfort, with one explicitly calling it "invasive surveillance." My sales director insists this is "standard practice" and we're "leaving money on the table" if we don't immediately capitalize on these "high-intent signals," but these don't feel like leads that have expressed interest — they feel like people whose privacy we've violated. Is this tracking technology genuinely ethical in modern sales, or am I right to feel we've crossed a line?

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Concerned in Washington 

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Dear Concerned,

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Your discomfort is valid — this technology operates in a gray area. While these tracking tools are currently legal (with websites technically disclosing this capability in their privacy policies), the disconnect between what's technically permitted and what feels respectful to prospects is real. That said, this technology is becoming standard practice, and your competitors are almost certainly leveraging similar insights to engage prospects before you can. Consider a middle-ground approach: use the intelligence to understand which companies show interest, but soften your outreach by referencing industry trends or relevant content rather than their specific browsing behavior—this may help reduce the "creepy factor." If this doesn't work and you're not seeing results, your company may soon realize and abandon the strategy anyway. Good luck!