This still from the hit BBC show Being Human depicts how I felt the other day when I got an unsolicited email inviting me to present my green product at an expo in New York City. Considering that I've never developed or sold a green product of my own or anyone else's, I wasn't pleased to get this invitation.
I took a chance and emailed the sender: Quick question: Where did you get my name and contact information?
I was pretty sure I'd never hear anything back, but I was feeling spunky. To my surprise, in just a couple minutes this landed in my inbox:
How refreshingly honest -- and friendly! Andrew was being human by interacting authentically with me and not being defensive. He owned up to being only human and making a mistake.
We figured out how I probably got on their exhibitor radar -- and Andrew quickly got me off it. It all took about 5 minutes. But the impact of this human interaction has a lasting impact.
Andrew's quick and authentic response changed my perception of Propel Media. He reminded me -- without being snotty -- that sometimes spam isn't really spam, it's just an honest mistake. And I'll be more likely to open the mail they do send me (more correctly, this time!), because I had a good experience.
So this one guy's simple action turned a potentially negative situation into a positive. If I contacted your business with a complaint, would it be handled this well? If not, what can we do to change that?