When times are good, we get lazy. We're not as intentional in our efforts to maintain relationships, personal or business. We all fall victim to this...even me.
Thus, it's been fascinating for me to watch the gyrations of two companies over the past few months, for two different reasons, that desperately want to remind me of how much (they think) I love them.
Jos. A. Banks is a menswear company. My only purchase from them was a decade ago when I was on assignment in Fort Worth. I had mis-packed and needed a couple sport shirts. Clearly, they secured my e-mail address during that transaction...and promptly forgot about me.
Since their parent company declared bankruptcy in August, I have been receiving two or three e-mails a day, extolling all the great deals available to me. So, that one we can chalk up to desperation.
Also a decade ago, artifacts from the late Bill Graham's collection of recordings and memorabilia from his days running the Fillmore East and West became available on a site called Wolfgang's Vault. I joined, enjoyed the content for a few years and then forgot about it...but still getting auto-billed each year. Luckily, the credit card they had finally expired this year and they have lost their ability to extract $35 a year from me because of my forgetfulness to cancel.
Since that occurred last month, I've been getting a raft of e-mails, begging me to come back to discover all the cool additions to the Vault. Apparently, these exceptional new additions weren't worthy enough to tell me about while I was being billed because I haven't received an e-mail from Wolfgang's Vault for years. That's probably because they didn't want to remind me that I was being billed for a service I hadn't used in 5 years. This one, we can chalk up to shady business practices (or, if not intentional, at least not very smart).
I don't, for a moment, fault these companies for reaching out. But really, at least admit you were (and apologize for being) lazy friends before trying to reengage me.
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