Spotify claims to be able to bring you the right music for every mood and moment. Almost every friend of mine on Facebook is live streaming music from Spotify. Download the app onto your computer or phone, select the playlist or artist you want to listen to, and you’re done! Easy, right? For listeners.

Well what if you represent a brand that wants to advertise with Spotify? How easy is it to get in touch with a sales rep? Or get an estimate?

While looking into options for mobile radio advertising for a client, I decided to reach out to two major companies: Pandora and Spotify. Pandora was quick and easy. Found an email address in no time, and received a response from my sales rep later that day.

When I went to the Spotify website, I was instantly directed to a generic form, asking for my name, number, organization, etc. — and diligently filled it out. Not a big deal, I get it. Like all smart marketers, they want to capture my information for their database. But that’s where the smart moves ended.

One day passed, two days passed, and on the third day I decided it was time to just shoot them a call… I have deadlines to meet. The first time I called I was put on hold for about 6-7 minutes and then sent directly to a voicemail greeting stating that they were so busy that I had to leave a message and wait for a call back at a reasonable time. But in the meantime, they said, go ahead and fill out a form on our website. So I did that. Again.

I didn’t wait three days to call back this time. I called back the next day and was finally able to speak to a living, breathing person (we all know how exciting that can be). But the response I got was not the one I was anticipating. I was put on hold (which, to give them credit, they thoughtfully apologized for) and was told that someone would contact me in 30 days about advertising. Click. Well thank you!

I don’t know about you, but 30 days is a tad too long for me to wait for some numbers, especially when my media plan is due in two weeks. Right now, Spotify is a case study in poor sales cycle management. But if they take a step back and look at the big picture, particularly their “one month to do business” policy, they might be able to turn things around. Unfortunately, it’s not likely they’ll turn it around in time to wind up in my client’s media plan.

You can have the best marketing plan and ad campaign in the world — strong SEO, creative TV spots, great lead generation. But if you don’t have a sound way to follow up on and nurture your leads, you’re losing business every day. Let’s hope Spotify can learn to get their sales cycle as smooth as their listening experience.