How to Nuke a Promotion In 4 Easy Steps
Last week I made a serious mistake.
I let a promotion go out the door without fully vetting the details and making sure all the t's were crossed and i's dotted. I caught some heat and deservedly so. We rushed something and it blew up on us.
The vendor is a good vendor. I use them personally and stand behind their product. But the promotion we jumped on was ill communicated, with too little time for us to execute properly, and we should have spotted it earlier. I've worked with the vendor to come up with a solution and I'll tell you about it in just a bit.
Here's what happened.
We were notified that there was a promotion already underway that was currently only available to high level partners but it expired in less than a week. It seemed like a great deal: no setup fee.
First ingredient: time crunch.
My affiliate manager wrote a very persuasive list of bullets that I massaged into an email. The big problem is that although he proofread their sales copy, since he doesn't personally own InfusionSoft, he didn't pick up on the fact that this was the "Basic" version of InfusionSoft. His only experience with InfusionSoft is my full featured Pro account.
Second ingredient: person writing the copy didn't own the product.
The third ingredient was a full schedule of consulting that prevented me from taking the time I knew is necessary to do due diligence on promotions before hitting the send button. It's the carpenter's old adage: measure twice, cut once.
Third ingredient: no time to proof read and spot discrepancies.
Soon after the email went out, a client caught the mistake and I realized there was a problem. Quick to the rescue, my affiliate manager worked behind the scenes with someone high up the InfusionSoft food chain. Jack put up the new offer on my site to reflect what he was told: "$299 for Deluxe with no setup fee – save $4,000 – Perry's people only".
"If you feel the need for some damage control or get your customers sending u private negative feedback…I created this page you can send them to…
…and that is the full version with no setup and $299/mo"
-InfusionSoft
Problem fixed right?
Wrong.
In an effort to over-deliver and repair fences, he asks for InfusionSoft team to do a pre-deadline walk through of the system and a post deadline Quick Start class. It's at that point that he's told by one of the founders of the company that the $299 with no setup fee is not valid and has to be retracted.
"Yeah – it was miscommunication after miscommunication.
Our bad.
We can’t offer the $299 offer yet.
We had to fix our link our end letting your people know the offer is no longer valid."
- InfusionSoft
WANTED: FACIAL EGG SCRAPER…
Fourth ingredient: too many chefs in the kitchen.
Throw it all in a bowl and mix, out comes a big pile of poop.
Shazam. Your Perfect Storm for a SNAFU'd promotion.
This is where I do the right thing and apologize:
We are committed to you, our valued customers, and are taking immediate corrective steps to regain your confidence in us. We are sorry and embarrassed. You've got enough anxiety, frustration and inconvenience without me adding to it. Please accept this as my personal apology and re-commitment to you!
And to make it up to you here's what we've worked out:
"We are going to honor the Full Deluxe Edition of Infusionsoft with no Setup fee and extend the deadline until July 5, 2009 at 12pm EST. And this is only extended to Perry's valued clients."
-InfusionSoft
The information about that is here:
http://www.infusionsoftnow.com/perrymarshall
There's a marketing lesson almost anywhere you're willing to look and this "egg meet face" situation is no different.
Ready, fire, aim is better than "ready aim aim aim aim aim" but "fire ready aim" can backfire fast.
Promoting the right thing isn't enough. It also has to be at the right time and in the right way.
Thanks for understanding.
Perry
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About the Author
Entrepreneur Magazine says: "Perry Marshall is the #1 author and world's most-quoted consultant on Google Advertising. He has helped over 100,000 advertisers save literally billions of dollars in Adwords stupidity tax."
He is referenced across the Internet and by The Washington Post, USA Today, and the Chicago Tribune.
Last 5 Posts by Perry
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My guess is that there will be a lot of people that will be upset by this regardless of your attempts to make it right.
My second guess is that those angry people are people that neither you nor Infusion want to be dealing with anyway.
I already use Infusion so the offer is not in consideration, but I just sent this URL to one of my primary JV partners with the Subject Line: "Another Example of Doing it Right."
Your last paragraph was dead on. There are marketing lessons in everything and this one – as painful is it may be for you personally – is among the most valuable for those with eyes to see and ears to hear.
thanks
Nick
Kudos to you all.
It hasn't dented my opinion of you or your operation one little bit, in fact maybe the opposite.
It proves you're human like the rest of us and we all screw up occasionally.
My take may be similar to yours, it's how you hande it when you do and an honest apology goes a long way.
Keep up the good work.
Phill
I don't suppose that we could get that "no set up fee" retroactively credited for existing clients, huh?
P.S. How did you get that checkbox below the comment box for subscribing to a mini-course on this blog????
Thanks for this honest look at how to recover from a marketing mistake. It is easy to be paranoid and never move forward for fear of making a mistake. You show how to fix it and move forward, that is the most important thing. Hey we all make mistakes, just stand behind it and own up to it and it will be okay. Thanks for teaching this.
Keep up the good work,
Erik
Thanks, Perry, for showing us how to handle a snafu with grace.
Ironically, earlier today I read the story of a marketing mishap where a company sent an email to their nationwide list offering them a 40% discount on purchases in their store. Unfortunately, the discount applied only to one store in Sacramento (which wasn't mentioned in the email).
Upon discovering the error, they proceeded to make the problem worse by sending a followup email that blamed readers for misinterpreting the initial email as applying to all stores instead of just to the one they intended (but didn't specify).
The company "graciously" extended the offer to all subscribers nationwide — as long as they traveled to Sacramento to use the discount in the one store where it applied.
I appreciate your much more classy approach to this mistake.
Thanks for the explanation Perry. This sort of honesty builds our regard for you. I can see that you're suffering those growing pains as you move from the "Perry consulting model" (which I am sold on) to a bigger, different organization (which might for some people dilute the valuable Perryness).
I guess many of us who clicked through and found nothing will pass on the Infusion offer this time. If "one of the founders of the company" didn't know who you are and let you down that badly maybe we'd fare even worse in our relationship with Infusion. I think they need to sign up to your Mastermind Club before I'm happy!
In any case I had noticed money loosing glitches in the Infusion system (using it as your customer before) and it was Jack's copy that sold me on it again . . . and Infusion who unsold me.
Hey Perry,
Thanks for the apology.
It's kinda cool to know that our fearless leaders make mistakes too, we're all human.
I applaud your honesty and business ethic.
Regards,
Miles Hennis
Infusionsoft at any price is a deal.
I couldn't agree more with Phil and Nick on what a great story. In Perry world all of us, myself included, have become accustomed to dealing with a great company and great people and to be honest this entire situation does nothing to change that.
If more companies were honest about mistakes and doing what it takes to be successful they would find things much easier and truly this is an example to follow.
It doesn't matter how many times you go down. It only matters how many you get up. Well handled Perry!
Terry
Don't worry Perry! You're awesome!
If there's anyone "mad" at you, then they haven't been subscribed to your email newsletter for enough time =)
Joao
The only problem is they still refuse to honor this new promo. They told me anyone signing up would be refunded their $299 and not honor the price on their own page. An Infusion employee claimed that the Infusion company did not put that price on their site and that that price is no good. (They had other derogatory things to say as well, but I'll pass on repeating them). I guess all I'd like to know is that price good, 299 with no set up fee and all the support, or not? Infusion as of 6:00 pm said no.
Mark
(Yes mistakes happen, no biggie. I actually signed up anyway only to find this here 2 minutes later. I was offered the 299 with a 2500 fee for the deluxe. I passed and paid a 750 set up with basic even though I would have jumped on this. They said this was a lie and they refused to honor it.) How can I rectify this? :S
@Mark Thurston:
You somehow talked to a person who didn't know what was going on, or something like that. Someone at Infusion will be in touch with you.
Perry
Thank you Perry, for the update. I agree with the others.
One thing I can not abide is someone who goofs up and then tries to pass the error off on someone else. We are all imperfect and mistakes are made. Rather than lowering my regard, your email and subsequent explanation only serve to raise my respect for you.
One of my favorite shows in the past was Rescue 911. Not so much for the graphic scenes, but for the lessons it provided. I did home child care at the time and learned a lot from it on how to protect those around me.
With this you have provided two very important lessons. A real life lesson in the how-to of marketing and the importance of checking and re-checking. And, maybe more importantly, a personal example of how to take responsibility when things don't go as planned.
Great way to handle an error.
The only real problem is InfusionSoft themselves and their product.
They showed it in their replies and I learned it in real life just this week.
I have to change my "personal" email addy due to an ISP bitin' the dust.
I'm subscribed to 5-10 people who use Infusionsoft.
I have to email them and ask them to manually change my addy in their system as InfusionSoft doesn't have a Manage Your subscription option at the bottom of their emails, only an unsubscribe.
In 2009, that's unacceptable to say the least.
Lotsa thought went into that one, eh?
The only reason anybody jumped on this dogs bandwagon is because one "thoughtleader" told them to…without thought for their businesses.
Beware the savvy pitchman who wants to rule the world.
Mike,
We have a subscription management link at the bottom of our emails but we created that as a custom link. Yes I agree it should be built-in.
Perry
Again , you stand out .
Perry, thanks for the post. First ingredient: time crunch — was probably the major factor, others came due to it.
People here might want to read a related post, which happens to be about the same vendor we are talking here.
http://myorbit.tv/be-careful-with-double-your-sales-guarantees/
Perry,
We all appreciate your honesty and being truthful about this. On a more positive note, your initial email did inspire me to sign up for InfusionSoft. I'm really looking forward to using it to take my business to the next level!
Thanks,
Steve Juth
Perry-
Looking from the 50,000 ft view, it seems like with the added staff, expanded products, and increased promotion comes a new problem…
…putting it all together to make art!
I remember asking you at the 4-man intensive what critical stages there are in the grow of a business, or something like that.
And you replied something like, "Businesses from 0-40k sales can do it without a lot of internal change. Around 40k, something happens. And then again around the 4M mark."
Well, guess your baby is becoming a teenager and needs a little more structure now. Maybe a new curfew, lol!
Now comes from the fun part…
…Keeping the Perry culture/experience/expectations the SAME while incorporating greater internal controls to manage growth.
Growth can be great! It can also become cancer.
I applaud you for growing your business and going into the uncomfortable emotional position of transformation.
It ain't fun.
And like you say, "Just run faster than the guy next to you".
I'd bet a crisp $1 bill that most entrepreneurs literally don't have the guts to handle transformation from 3-man shop to wherever you are today.
And that willingness to feel the uncertainity and go headon makes you faster than the guy next to you!
Because once you do figure out thoses internal control issues, man…you'll be flying.
Adam Libman
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@Perry Marshall Infusionsoft has closed their offices until the day after your deal is good for. They were there earlier in the day, so I am not sure why they suddenly decided to close the office until the day after your promotion is good for.
Would you suggest I sign up under your promo link to reserve the promo and cancel the other deal on the 6th? (heck, it's even cheaper to keep both, lol.) The day is almost over, and no one has called. The result of this determines what of three levels of a product I want that I buy from you.
I really need to just forget about all this, but for some reason I get wound up when I think someone is nailing me to the wall. You have my email, any suggestions are welcome.
Sorry to be a pain
Mark
@Stephen Juth, What did they tell you? Did you get the $299 a month with no set up? They are telling me they will not be honoring any one that signs up under that link.
Thanks
(Sometimes I think I ought just go to Aweber. Lol.)