I once wrote letter to Decathlon, the largest sporting goods retailer.
I complained about store and lack of empathy at stores. Next day I received call from store manager. Who offered me a 100$ gift voucher if i return to the store :)
I Write Letters to CEOs
151–160 of 180 posts
Re: I Write Letters to CEOs
#152I got my first job in the tech industry by writing a thank you letter. Many years ago I met the CEO of a tech company at a networking event for recent college grads that they hosted. Like a job fair but with a twist. Having read Brian D. Krueger's excellent "College Grad Job Hunter" [1], I had business cards prepared. This was long before Moo.com so they were printed out on my Deskjet on Avery pre-perforated card sto…
Why did the CEO want a photo with you?
I don't know. A fateful mystery. I was selected by the PR person. Her choice changed my life, as I would never had thought of approaching the CEO. I was fortunate, and I would never have made some long-term friends without working at that company.
Re: I Write Letters to CEOs
#153I wrote a letter to Wal-Mart's CEO about 10+ years ago to apologize for switching the barcode from a less expensive Sony Walkman to a more expensive one because I didn't want to pay more. I was in college, about 19 years of age (mid 90's), and at the time felt that if I could get away with this, it's ok. And I did. Little did I know this act would gnaw on my conscience for many later. I asked them what could I do to make it right after so many years.
Soon after he received my letter, I got a call from the CEO's secretary to let me know he read my letter and that he forgives me and that there's nothing I need to do. Since I didn't expect the call, I was taken aback and moved to tears while I was talking to her. I expected some wrath and punishment for what I'd done. Instead, I experienced forgiveness.
Now if I could only quantify how much software, movies and music I've bootlegged while I was a student, I would probably write those CEOs a letter too, but I can't even remember it properly so I can quantify it. It wasn't a lot, and I mostly bootlegged because I thought it was "cool" to be visible on IRC #warez and what not... never really used or resold the software, just mostly did it cause I got to hang with the cool crowd.
Given I'm a software engineer for nearly 20 years now, I don't bootleg anything anymore... music, videos, apps.. and if I do, it's only because there's no trial for some of the apps. If I end up using the app, I pay for it or if I can't afford it, usually an employer will pay for it if I/we need it.
Re: I Write Letters to CEOs
#154Would be interesting with the actual letters and responses
Re: I Write Letters to CEOs
#155Earlier 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.
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Re: I Write Letters to CEOs
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 comme…
The example of an undercover reporter sending a letter to a CEO under the premise that they will write a nice article about the company if the CEO responds is pretty absurd.
It doesn't have to be a nice article. A request for comment can either be responded to, where you have a chance for your words on record, or you get " has not responded to requests for comment as of publishing." which is worse than whatever spin you could have concocted.
Re: I Write Letters to CEOs
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here's my anecdotal-experience-driven theory of what's going on with the golfing-CEO companies underperforming the non-golfing-CEO ones: it isn't a matter of lost productive hours while golfing instead of working. It's that the golfing CEOs are, as a population, different from the non-golfing ones. The golfing ones are a bit more extroverted and charismatic than the non-golfers; they "look like CEOs". They are more l…
Another theory (possibly complementary) is networking. Golfing / frequenting private clubs can greatly improve CEOs visibility among other CEOs.. I believe Mark Newman's network theory book mention exactly this example.
I agree, I think the networking aspect is central. Extroverted people are going to be drawn to sports that serve a networking purpose like golf, tennis, skiing, hunting quail, etc.
Re: I Write Letters to CEOs
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 comme…
The example of an undercover reporter sending a letter to a CEO under the premise that they will write a nice article about the company if the CEO responds is pretty absurd.
Reporters who are reviewing products do. They might have 10 different blenders to review, and if there is a button that doesn't make sense a good response takes you from "2/10 the buttons don't make sense" to "9/10, the buttons are a little weird but once you get used to them..."
Re: I Write Letters to CEOs
#159I got my first job in the tech industry by writing a thank you letter. Many years ago I met the CEO of a tech company at a networking event for recent college grads that they hosted. Like a job fair but with a twist. Having read Brian D. Krueger's excellent "College Grad Job Hunter" [1], I had business cards prepared. This was long before Moo.com so they were printed out on my Deskjet on Avery pre-perforated card sto…
Why did the CEO want a photo with you?
It wasn't the CEO who wanted the picture, it was the PR person. So s/he suggests it to the CEO and he said "sure."
But when it came time to make it happen, the way to get the person on board as quickly as possible is to say "the CEO over there wants to take a picture with you."
Re: I Write Letters to CEOs
#160This looks like a lot of fantasy confidence. For instance, even if you are quite rich, it's unlikely that Colgate-Palmolive would consider you really an "investor". And of course if you write something to the CEO his 10+ PR team will respond to you, maybe even with something that is signed by the CEO. But do you really think the CEO sits down to discuss shower thoughts about product ideas with you? If you think that…
>The big company is in the later phases of a snowball effect. It's a huge thing that rolls by itself and can't really be redirected, stopped or sped up by anyone. A CEO knows that. He's mostly concerned about internal politics and external representation.
This is one of the unspoken truths of business. It's the same whether you're a CEO or a manager.
The best people know this, but never EVER say it. The rest think they have to do more than they actually should; the most obvious manifestation of this is micro-managing.