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I Write Letters to CEOs

johnwdefeo.com

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Re: I Write Letters to CEOs

#121

Post by lozf »

jacquesm wrote: post #112
darkerside wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, I don't think the district manager would likely have been totally engaged in what he'd view as babysitting an irate customer. Now if Paul had also offered to accompany the tour, there you're getting meaningful engagement.

I don't know about that. If it was just to 'babysit an irate customer' that would be one thing, but there is a fair chance that the CEO would have required a debrief after the tour to get a handle on whether the letter writer had a point. A district manager's time isn't free and you don't throw away resources like that as if they are customer support. Also: Paul may simply not have been the right person to be there b…

An "irate customers" time isn't free either. Plenty of reasons why one might take the time to write a complaint but decline the opportunity to provide free consultation in person.

The company should be grateful for whatever "help" (or pointers to improvement) they can get - even if it's just a letter - way more preferable than a rant on the phone or slating on social media.

Re: I Write Letters to CEOs

#122

Post by bluGill »

auntad wrote: post #15
wgerard wrote: post #4

> the compound annual return of the respondent group is 8.97% greater than the non-respondent companies. That's actually interesting, because I could easily explain away the opposite result: CEOs who waste their time responding to personal letters aren't focused on improving company performance. For example, there's some potential negative correlation between time spent playing golf and company performance [1]. Grant…

I'd suspect a valid correlation that's not a causation. If a company is generally doing well, presumably the CEO isn't under as much stress and doesn't have as many firefighting responsibilities as those whose companies are doing poorly. Hence having the time to write a letter to a stranger. Maybe those underperforming companies will bounce back and you'll find a (much delayed) response in the author's mailbox a few…

I think the correlation is real. The type of person who writes to a CEO is likely to do other things for the company. For instance they might be a undercover reporter researching a story. Responding to the letter can give the company free press, which can be far more valuable than the time a personal letter takes.

Likewise, many companies have a comments toll free number. Almost nobody will call them (who has a comment about their toothpaste), but it turns out the type of person who does call those numbers is likely the type of person who tells all their friends which is the best toothpaste, and so it is important that whoever answers that phone is an expert on what makes their toothpaste great. (honest answers are important - this type of person already knows their stuff so lies will hurt)

Also, CEOs often know they have trouble connecting with their real customers. If a real customer writes, that is real information that they cannot easily get in any other way. A good CEO will pay attention because what one person writes 100 others think but don't say at all.

All of the above are things that make a CEO who doesn't respond under perform.

Re: I Write Letters to CEOs

#125

Post by kahnpro »

aantix wrote: post #59
elygre wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why wouldn’t it be?

Because you don't have their consent.

You're not a business systematically or regularly storing and processing personal data. Pretty sure GDPR doesn't stop you from e-mailing random people for personal reasons.

Re: I Write Letters to CEOs

#126

Post by bluGill »

mkirklions wrote: post #117
mysterypie wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they've got staff to handle that The author is certain that the CEOs responded personally. He says, "[CEO] wrote me a two-page letter that addressed my ideas point by point", "[CEO] sent me a handwritten letter", and "[CEO] forwarded my ideas to his marketing leaders".

The CEO might dictate it and sign it, but I dont think they are writing. I try my best not to write anymore, I have interns that can do this. I need to be putting my resources to my expertise, coding.

How many letters does the CEO get? If the answer is small the CEO of course handles it: it doesn't really take that long and the PR is worth it. If the answer is many, of course staff handles it, with form responses - even then the "interesting" letters get passed on.

Re: I Write Letters to CEOs

#127

Post by ordinaryperson »

jacquesm wrote: post #108
bjelkeman-again wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being too busy is of course a legitimate reason. Without knowing why he declined it is silly to criticise it, I think.

Not too busy to send letters to the CEO. I never get this: you start a conversation and then when the other party engages you disengage. The CEO's response was about as good as you could wish for and would give an opportunity to influence the view of the company at the level where it matters. That's what you intend when you write to the CEO, you do that because they are the people that can make stuff happen, includin…

To elaborate on why I declined:

The District Manager left a voicemail for me asking when he could schedule a tour with me. He was 100% polite, but it sounded like he was gritting his teeth.

Maybe I was reading too much into it, but I interpreted it as, "My boss's boss is forcing me to give an idiot like you, someone probably with no experience in retail economics, a tour while I patiently pretend to listen to how you tell me to do my job better than me, a person with decades of experience in selling video games."

If the situation were reversed I wouldn't want some rando customer coming into my job and telling me everything he thinks I'm doing wrong.

Plus, I got the feeling (again, just my perception) that it would just be "here's what's wrong with this store" instead of "here's what's wrong with all of your stores."

Maybe it was all in my head and they would have taken me seriously, I don't know. But that was the impression I got.

And I was legitimately busy. Writing a letter takes 10 minutes, a tour and presentation of my ideas would obviously take a lot longer.

Re: I Write Letters to CEOs

#128

Post by ordinaryperson »

simias wrote: post #118
jacquesm wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not too busy to send letters to the CEO. I never get this: you start a conversation and then when the other party engages you disengage. The CEO's response was about as good as you could wish for and would give an opportunity to influence the view of the company at the level where it matters. That's what you intend when you write to the CEO, you do that because they are the people that can make stuff happen, includin…

It's one thing to complain about poor service, it's an other to brainstorm with district manager to improve the location. It's hard to know exactly what was being proposed without more details but the way it's described by the parent I think I would've refused as well unless I had a genuine curiosity to visit a videogame store with a backstage pass. I mean it's a bit as if you complained in a restaurant that the food…

Yes. This, exactly.

Re: I Write Letters to CEOs

#129

Post by ordinaryperson »

darkerside wrote: post #111
jacquesm wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not too busy to send letters to the CEO. I never get this: you start a conversation and then when the other party engages you disengage. The CEO's response was about as good as you could wish for and would give an opportunity to influence the view of the company at the level where it matters. That's what you intend when you write to the CEO, you do that because they are the people that can make stuff happen, includin…

To be fair, I don't think the district manager would likely have been totally engaged in what he'd view as babysitting an irate customer. Now if Paul had also offered to accompany the tour, there you're getting meaningful engagement.

Agreed. That was my perception of the offer.

Re: I Write Letters to CEOs

#130

Post by user9182031 »

coupdejarnac wrote: post #79

When I was in 4th grade in the '80s, I wrote a letter to the CEO of Atari. I was a stockholder(maybe 5 shares, ha), and I was concerned that Atari could do a few things to make their games more enjoyable. I received a really nice letter in return that addressed my concerns, and a bunch of promotional material was included. In retrospect I wish I had written more letters and perhaps built up correspondence with someon…

You were trading stocks in the 4th grade?
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