Customers DO change their email addy: How do you deal with it??
After several months of dealing with the foibles of my local telco here in Cincinnati - I finally took the plunge and changed internet companies. I am already thrilled to death with the faster speed (it's rocket fast and I am having a blast!) but changing my email address with the various newsletters & lists that I am on has been a VERY interesting experience to say the least...so I thought I would pop in here - because some of the best and worst responses have come from Warriors.....
The first thing I did was to set up an autoresponder, stating that I was going to be discontinuing the current email addy and giving the new one. Many of you (including some folks that I know have BIG lists) responded in moments with brief but personal notes saying the change had been made. I have either already sent you nice peeps a thank you note, or will be shortly. I kinda feel like since you took the time out of your day - I should too ;-)
BUT....many sent me back automated responses that basically said "I get way too much mail to bother reading anything that comes back to this email address, so post a ticket at my help desk or blah blah blah'
Well, guess what?? I ran several very large lists for many years - and weekly newsletters - REAL newsletters - not just selling the latest widget that came out. A few years ago when I took my businesses a different direction (necessitated by health issues of aging parents) I was able to sell those businesses for serious money - because I always monitored those newsletter email boxes, and I responded to my readers.
Mainly because I figured that if I expected them to take the time out of their day to read MY email - I could return the courtesy.
Last but not least - I was shocked to realize how few IMers (some very experienced folks!) do not provide a way for the reader to do anything other than unsub. You cannot change your email addy easily, or even find a way to re-subscribe. Yikes.....
Yes, I know lots of people use GMail so they don't have to change your email address if something like this happens - but a lot of folks still have certain email addresses that they use to have the 'good stuff' sent to.
So - a lot of people here have probably lost a good customer...but some of you still know where to find me!
Chris Lang, Paul Count, Paul Coleman, Jay Boyer, Gary Harvey, the teams at Catalyst, Traffic Geyser & RAP Bank, Art Jonak, Dennis Becker & Kevin Riley - a big shout out to all of you for taking the time to help a customer out! You all rock!!
As to those that sent back messages stating that you get too much email to respond - it was nice knowing you. If you can't take the time to check your email box - I probably can't take the time to figure out how the hell to re-join your list either.
Melody
The first thing I did was to set up an autoresponder, stating that I was going to be discontinuing the current email addy and giving the new one. Many of you (including some folks that I know have BIG lists) responded in moments with brief but personal notes saying the change had been made. I have either already sent you nice peeps a thank you note, or will be shortly. I kinda feel like since you took the time out of your day - I should too ;-)
BUT....many sent me back automated responses that basically said "I get way too much mail to bother reading anything that comes back to this email address, so post a ticket at my help desk or blah blah blah'
Well, guess what?? I ran several very large lists for many years - and weekly newsletters - REAL newsletters - not just selling the latest widget that came out. A few years ago when I took my businesses a different direction (necessitated by health issues of aging parents) I was able to sell those businesses for serious money - because I always monitored those newsletter email boxes, and I responded to my readers.
Mainly because I figured that if I expected them to take the time out of their day to read MY email - I could return the courtesy.
Last but not least - I was shocked to realize how few IMers (some very experienced folks!) do not provide a way for the reader to do anything other than unsub. You cannot change your email addy easily, or even find a way to re-subscribe. Yikes.....
Yes, I know lots of people use GMail so they don't have to change your email address if something like this happens - but a lot of folks still have certain email addresses that they use to have the 'good stuff' sent to.
So - a lot of people here have probably lost a good customer...but some of you still know where to find me!
Chris Lang, Paul Count, Paul Coleman, Jay Boyer, Gary Harvey, the teams at Catalyst, Traffic Geyser & RAP Bank, Art Jonak, Dennis Becker & Kevin Riley - a big shout out to all of you for taking the time to help a customer out! You all rock!!
As to those that sent back messages stating that you get too much email to respond - it was nice knowing you. If you can't take the time to check your email box - I probably can't take the time to figure out how the hell to re-join your list either.
Melody