Comments on: Do I Know You? Follow-up Is All About Relationship

By: Therapy New York

Therapy New York — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:46:30 +0000

“The art of marketing is all about relationships.” Yes, I think this is basis for any business. I have received emails from companies that appear to know me. I would rush and open the email to realize that a company is trying to sell me something. I don’t really look at products from people that just happen to appear in my email inbox. This post will definitely make me think about how I approach relationships.

By: Igor M. (BizMord Blog)

Igor M. (BizMord Blog) — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 16:34:05 +0000

Stoney … I love the first e-mail It’s as if there is not enough negative perception of many affiliate networks that they have to show this side to them.

I once had the same kind of an e-mail sent to me (not from Joeshmucks). I guess I had few minutes, so I replied to them with suggestions of how to do things right. Surprisingly … no, not surprised …. didn’t hear back from them (and the e-mail didn’t bounce).

Anyway … it’s just a reminder that we’re all humans, using tools that make us a bit bigger. Problem is … if we screw up, some of us engage and respond to fix the problem and some just sit there like fools. (Can you tell that today is my day off?)

Good post.

By: Stoney deGeyter

Stoney deGeyter — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 14:33:14 +0000

I disagree Bulbboy… I think if a mistake such as this was made the very least the company should do is to apologize. I’m still waiting and am suprised that I’ve not seen any other mention of this (especialy the first one) within the community. They really should apologize. But then again, maybe an apology would only highlight the fact that they sent out an automated email that tried to sound as if it weren’t.

By: Bulbboy

Bulbboy — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 12:41:24 +0000

I really hate the follow up emails that some folks send out, correcting their earlier “mistake.” Deep down you know that they just wanted to fill up your inbox with their name. Doesn’t endear me to them.

By: Carsten Cumbrowski

Carsten Cumbrowski — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 05:40:23 +0000

I got an email too from another company that started how nice our personal meeting was at the last ad-Tech conference which I did not attend, nor any other ad-Tech conference for that matter.

I usually delete those email without reading anything that follows, because whatever that is, can not be related to me, what I want or what I asked for.

Luckily for the senders of this kind of email is the fact that I forget about it quickly since I only spent a second or two on that email. If it becomes a habit of somebody to send emails like that over and over again, different story.

I am forgiving a mistake that was made once, especially this kind of error, but that is because I know how it can be with the 1,000 things you have to do with not enough time to do it. It happens to the best of us that you make an error like that, especially if you are tired and just want to get this last thing done before you fall asleep. It usually does not take much for those kinds of errors to happen. It is often nothing more than 1 or 2 wrong clicks or a click too early (“send” / “complete” / “publish”).

However. I think what is more important than the fact that we all make mistakes is how we act on them. If you become aware of the mistake do something to remedy it, by sending out an apology for example. Doing nothing is not always the correct action in those cases.

This was a good and important post. It reminds me that we are all flawed humans regardless how professional we want to be.

By: Stoney deGeyter

Stoney deGeyter — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 17:15:32 +0000

Well, it was a mistake, but one that shows them to be lazy in their communications.

By: Seth Tachick

Seth Tachick — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 17:12:43 +0000

It would’ve taken what, a whopping 3-4 minutes to taylor that email to pubcon attendees? I sure hope that was a mistake. If not, it appears that they are just pure lazy and aren’t concerned about achieving their business objectives.

By: Jason Green

Jason Green — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 16:19:16 +0000

Perhaps these letters were genuine mistakes; that is to say for example if someone mixed up the “I saw you at PubCon” and the “I saw you at ad-tech” bins. Regardless this is at best business negligence. It does however provide sound food for thought:
*How do mistakes like this reflect upon the internal workings of an organization in the eyes of the beholder?
*How does timing and schedule effect the interpretation and effectiveness of communications?
*What are the possible pitfalls inherent in cookie-cutter business communications?