Connecting the dots ...
OK, that should be easy, let’s click to get that email:
Oops – dear Chase, where’s my message?
Of course on the week when the IMF and the US Senate gets hacked, GoDaddy goes down (did they forget to renew their domain?), I should not complain. After all, it’s not my money they’ve lost. (?)
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve » Zoli Erdos)
I simply don’t get it: Vista is barely out, nobody seems to like it, CIO’s refuse to upgrade, analyst firms tell them to wait, individual users who tried it switch back to XP, others time their new PC purchase so they can still get an XP machine – generally speaking Vista was as poorly received as the ill-fated Windows ME.
Apple is gaining market share, the major computer manufacturers are offering Linux PC’s, the Web OS concept is getting popular, applications are already on the Web – can anyone clearly see the shape of personal computing in 2012? (Yes, I know MS plans for 2010, I’m just adding the customary delay.) Will it still matter what OS we use to get on the Internet? How can Microsoft be so out of touch?
I was right and I was wrong. Right in the assessment, that Vista’s main competitor was Microsoft’s own solid OS, WinXP – there was simply no reason to upgrade. Yet as buying new computers with Good Ole Vista became increasingly difficult, many of us got stuck with Vista. I was wrong in not foreseeing that Vista would turn out to be such a disaster, that millions of Vista victims would end up paying the ransom to get out of the trap and get the version of the OS that actually works: Windows 7.
What followed was two peaceful years when Windows computers simply worked. Yes, They Just Worked. Almost like a Mac. 
Then the unexpected (?) happened…
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve » Zoli Erdos)
The best CRM system can’t help you if your sales / marketing team is clueless. Here’s a ridiculous email I’ve just received. Name removed to protect the (not-so) innocent
In celebrating our 40th anniversary, I’ve been given the privilege to manage the relationship between your organization and Communispond. When you have a moment, please take a look at the information below. Kindly let me know if it’s out of date, and the best way to reach you. I wish to be respectful of your time and patience.
Is your organization prepared with the communication tools and behaviors (presenting, selling, coaching, persuading, etc) to achieve greater success in 2010? I would like to hear your thoughts and ideas on any communication challenges you anticipate, and see if we can help. Please let me know if you’d be willing to meet with me – either conference call or face to face. l greatly appreciate your consideration.
Warm Regards,
X. Y.
What’s wrong with this email campaign? A few things… where should I even start?
Obsolete data: we all know this is a disease that plagues many (CRM) systems, but this one is extreme. The data shown on this business card never existed in such combination, but bits and pieces did. Yes, I participated in SAP’s International Consultant Training – 20 years ago, in Vienna, Austria (that’s in Europe, just in case…), so they must have picked it up from a very-very ancient resume. (It also means I understand Charlie’s joke…). Yes, I did work at SAP America, when they were a tiny outfit with 70+ employees, and the Newton Square HQ listed above was not even a dream.
Data errors do happen – but how on Earth could they dump 20-year old, pre-CRM, pre-ERP, pre-everything data into a CRM system?
Now let’s focus on content. The title, specifically. That’s the marketer’s opportunity to grab attention – or lose it. Time is money, and most of us don’t have a lot to waste – why on Earth would I want to meet a stranger without any previous contact or knowing the intent?
You just don’t send out an initial contact request asking for a purpose-less meeting.
Anyway – this email is in its well-deserved place in my Spam folder and Communispond is flagged as mindless marketers. But hey, it was good for a rant. In return, free advice to them: you don’t need Salesforce.com. It won’t help you.
Update: This post originally appeared almost a year ago . The reason I am republishing it is that so did they. They just resent the same dumb junk mail, verbatim, without the slightest change, despite my previous post and response to them. How dumb is that? Oh one more thing: through how many years can they be celebrating their 40th anniversary? (hint: it was indeed last year).
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
Many of you will recognize the title – borrowed from "Enterprise 2.0 a Crock" Dennis Howlett.
Needless to say I was quite interested in his discussion with David Terrar, who is more of an E20 fan.
Hm…hard to watch. Dennis is too loud while David is barely audible. I kept on turning the volume up and down, until I quit after a few minutes. But it’s not just the technical issues. It’s a long video for the message it delivers, and I hate to admit but it could not glue me to my chair for 8 minutes.
His opinions and sometimes abrasive style aside Dennis is a great analytical thinker, but he is (as I suspect all of us are) simply more organized, more concise in writing. Simply more convincing – or thought provoking – and definitely easier to "consume" in writing, than this video-torture. So now you see where my title comes from. If Dennis says E20 is a crock, then I say so is video.
It’s simply not the best medium for a lot of messages.
But I am not picking on Dennis. Here’s a video by Allen Stern of the CenterNetworks fame:
<rant>
TV news in the background – they talk about how we can expect more laptop searches at airports, agents searching for child pornography. This is insane. I am not supporting child pornography, but fighting it should not be the mission of airport security or customs officials. Air travel is already bad enough, searching through today’s huge hard disks would bring it to a screeching halt.
</rant>
Publisher / Editor of CloudAve and Enterprise Irregulars.
I do most of my business blogging there, with occasional asides here. More...
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