MindComet

Fallen Princesses

Photographer Dina Goldstein presents a modern take on iconic fairytale princesses. Beautifully staged and lovely storytelling! VIsit her listing on jpgmag.com for the entire collection.

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Posted by Marcelle Turner on Jun. 16, 2009

‘Tis Better to Give Than to Receive

The following is an email message I received today:

Re: Scheduling a Call, Wednesday, May 27

Marcelle—

You may recall I tried contacting you last year on behalf of our client who had retained our firm to help them buy an interactive media agency.  We helped our client develop a significant strategic relationship, and we continue to meet interactive and traditional media agencies that are interested in some type of transaction, either selling their company, acquiring a company, or developing strategic relationships. 

I’m hoping we can schedule a call at your convenience to get re-acquainted. We’d like to get an update on how business is going for you, and give you an update on how our practice has evolved over the past few quarters. Even if M&A or partnership development are not on your immediate “To Do” list, we still would like to catch-up. Our business is about relationships, and they usually take a long time to develop. [COMPANY] approaches the market differently than other investment banks in our space, and I firmly believe it’s worth your time at least to know of the alternative that we offer.

I can suggest a possible call for the afternoon of Wednesday, May 27, but can be free almost anytime late next week and the following week with a bit of advance notice. 

I’ll follow up you with you by telephone over the next few days, but please feel free to call me in the interim.

Regards, [CONTACT]

* * * * *

On the surface this message seems well thought out and articulate. But it instantly rubbed me the wrong way, and I quickly figured out why. Here’s a fun little exercise: let’s break down the message…

How many times the contact was the subject of interest:  5
How many times the contact’s firm was the subject of interest: 7
How many times my needs were the subject of interest: 0

While I appreciate the sales attempt from anyone just trying to do their job in this tough economy, this message provided absolutely no compelling reason for me to respond. Other than the firm’s own interest and desire to “catch up,“ what was in it for me? What’s more, the perspective makes me question the contact’s focus and doubt the firm’s ability to represent my company’s best interest.

I feel I can only criticize this solicitation because I myself have been guilty of this offense! I’m absolutely positive that in my early years I sent many of these types of emails, feeling proud of my company’s work and confident that anyone I messaged would certainly want to hear about my success. Good news is that we can all continue to learn and I had a great reminder today of the importance of clearly articulating value.

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Posted by Marcelle Turner on May. 20, 2009