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October 19, 2005
Major Blunders
Oh dear me.
For the last, oh, month or so, I haven't really pursued the Big Idea. Aside from joining the gym, entertaining the niece, dating, and doing full-time consulting work, I just haven't had the time to sit down and think out the next steps. I'm at the point where I need some focused time to plan a strategy, create a "pitch" letter, and figure out how I want to approach potential clients.
Up until now, I just figured that when my current contract ran out (in early November), I would take a week or so and do some serious planning.
That is, until tonight.
I don't know what possessed me to start working on the Big Idea at 1 a.m. Suffice it to say that I was suddenly overwhelmed with a burst of Big Idea energy. I sat down, wrote a brilliant pitch letter, and tried to mail merge it with my excel spreadsheet, which contained a bunch of names I had culled for potential clients. This would allow me to customize each letter with information designed to make my offer particularly enticing.
So far, so good.
Well, Microsoft Word (both my angel and my nemesis) has this new nifty feature: the E-mail Merge. It's sort of like a regular mail merge, except that it will create individualized emails. Wonderful! Since I was hoping to make my initial contact via email, this is ideal. I'll have to do less editing, which means less room for stupid blunders. Theoretically, everyone should walk away happy.
It never works out that way, though, does it?
Well, apparently, when you hit "merge" on an email merge, it actually SENDS THE EMAILS RIGHT THEN AND THERE. Which, of course, I only found out AFTER I MERGED THEM TWICE. That's right. When I did it the first time, it looked like nothing happened. So I tried it again. And then I got this sinking feeling at the pit of my stomach.
I opened up my Microsoft Outlook and SURE ENOUGH. Two copies of each email (some of which were NOT edited to go out) went out, and were sent from my regular hotmail address instead of my official Big Idea email address. Thus, it looks like a totally phony scam (because my Big Idea email has a signature block with the company name, website, etc., I didn't include it in the form letter).
AUGH!!
After having a near breakdown, I have taken several deep breaths and assessed the situation. First off, for a letter written in 15 minutes, it has impeccable spelling and grammar. I'm just going to overlook the several emails that start:
Dear ,
And I'll also overlook the fact that everyone got that email twice. Hey, maybe they need to see it multiple times before taking it seriously.
It's not like i can do anything about it now.
And I did include my Big Idea phone number and email address at the bottom of the form letter, so any person with half a brain COULD figure out the company website address. Or they could just contact me for more information--which is what I suggest at the close of the letter.
Sigh.
Let me try and learn from this disaster.
Lesson #1: Don't try new features on Microsoft Office products at 1 a.m.
Lesson #2: Don't try new features on Microsoft Office on REAL client lists.
Lesson #3: Always include full contact information in the body of a letter.
Lesson #4: Don't try new features on Microsoft Office products at 1 a.m. (worth repeating twice)
Lesson #5: Don't try new features on Microsoft Office on REAL client lists. (also worth repeating twice)
Comments
Maybe (if it looks too much like a scam) they just threw it in the junkmail bin wtihout a second thought. I would wait until you have time to get everything nice and finalized, change the subject, and write it again.
Also, putting myself in the shoes of someone who may have actually read the email, so long as you put a little note at the bottom saying something like "Remember that eppisode of Sinefeld where George accidently sent a privat email to the whole office? Well, gosh-gee, sorry, I think I had a technical error before and you may have already received this" (or maybe a little more formal), I personally would not hold it against you. I am sure that anyone receiving your email has also had "major blunders" with their software.
Sure, there is the chance that some hypocrytical (because they have had such problems as well) people could look at it as "unprofessional", but I would probably be more apt to remember you because this would stick in my mind... seem more personal, make you more "real", as oppsed to the Nigerian prince that keeps trying to get in touch with me.
In the end, if the service looks like something they would benefit from, they would at least investigate. At that time they would find out that you are actually professional and "for real"
Posted by: gizmo guy at October 19, 2005 04:23 AM
I so had this happen to me a couple years ago. I sent out about 50 emails to "key stakeholders" that were identified for a survey. And every one of them said "Dear ,".
Call me for sympathy. Our survey turned out fine with more emails.
Posted by: Elizabeth at October 19, 2005 11:02 AM
