Dear CEO: I don't give two cents about you or your company

Dear CEO, VP of Marketing or other mucky-muck:

Listen closely: I do not give two cents about you or your company. I only care about ME.

Get it?

It's all about my problems, my challenges, my bottom line, my customers, my vendors...me, me, me!

So please explain, if you can, why you insist on talking about YOU?

Do you honestly think I care about:

When you were founded?
Your job description?
Your mission statement (which, by the way, sounds like everyone else's)?
The size of your building and the number of employees on staff (all of which remind me of how much of your overhead I'm paying when I purchase your product or service)?
Your magic ability to leverage?

Puh-lese!

The only thing I care about you is what YOU can do for ME!

Oh, and don't TELL me what you can do for me. Trust me, I've heard the words before, and they mean spit. I'm weary of promises that have gone unfulfilled.

I'm tired of reps who don't show up. Orders that get messed up. Products that blow up. Obnoxious salespeople who make me want to throw up.

Instead, show me you can save me time, money, headaches, a sour stomach caused by too much stress.

Show me you can increase my productivity, my efficiency, my bottom line.

Show me you can end my hassles with regulators, lawyers, the IRS.

And the next time you send me a marketing piece or invite me to visit your website or talk to me over the phone, don't lead off with talking about YOU.

YOU don't matter.

Talk about ME.

Never forget: I AM the center of the universe.

Sincerely,

A. Prospect and A. Customer

Anything you want to add?

Jeffrey Swartz is President of Daly-Swartz PR (www.dsprel.com">http://www.dsprel.com">www.dsprel.com). Jeffrey has been involved in PR and marketing communications since 1973 when he was named corporate commmunications director at Frost & Sullivan in New York. Before launching Daly-Swartz Public Relations in 1986, he served as vice president of corporate communications at Silicon Valley-based CompuPro.

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