You're creeping me out...

DENNIS HOFFMAN, CEO
ENGAGE USA

Did you know that I’m in the restaurant business?  I don’t own or run restaurants outright but I’ve invested in a few restaurants in the area.  So when I got a birthday card from an upscale seafood restaurant I’d never visited, I figured they’d done their homework and were trying to butter me up.

It was almost a year later when that same restaurant sent me a wedding Anniversary Card.  They got the date right.  But I’ve been divorced for 18 years.  Hmmmmm.

If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably in the direct marketing business so you can guess exactly what happened.  The restaurant purchased a list of “leads” from a large data consolidator and my name was on that list.  They paid a little bit extra for my birthdate and anniversary.

They definitely paid too much for my anniversary date since the data was old and out of date – painfully out of date.  But that’s not really the important thing.  It’s how they used it.  You see, I felt stalked.  The restaurant would have been a lot better off if they’d used my anniversary to time their mailing instead of telling me they had it.

Next time how about if they send a card advertising themselves as the premier anniversary destination a few weeks before my anniversary. I might just make a reservation.  But they don’t need to tell me why their timing is so right.  Let us keep a little bit of mystery in our relationship.