When communicators fail at communication….
It’s a difficult business environment out there. No question. So any new business activities are to be applauded. Recently I recieved quite a few new business pitches from PR agencies. Some were very impressive, and I have kept their details, some have been absolutely appalling.
Looking over the really bad pitches, you can’t help but marvel at the irony. Here are organizations seeking to win your communications business and they fail at the very discipline that they want you to pay them money for.
Here’s the latest example for you. Today I received two packages in the mail. (Sidenote: I think well put together, well targeted paper-based direct mail is increasingly effective in a time when most commercial messages come over the wire) One from a west-coast agency was targeted, followed up with a call, personalized, good quality relevant materials and it was obvious they have visited our site and done some research. [Details filed]
The second was paper spam from a New York agency. No personalization, just a job title, and they spelt the company name incorrectly (!) and included a range of typos in the letter. Now I had never heard of this company before, and to be honest it was more likely I’d use their services before I became aware of them! If they can’t even communicate, target, pitch a potential client effectively (or even professionally) how can I expect them to work with media, analysts, investors or staff? The mind boggles sometimes.
Murphy's Law 