Now, In today's lesson, we're going to get "hands on" and discover how to construct the perfect email to solicit those "diamonds in the rough" that are undoubtedly priceless and instrumental to your sales and profits.
But first, I want to make one thing perfectly clear...
By adding fake testimonials to your website, you're not only breaking the law, but you're also lying to your customers and that's no way to run a successful business.
That leads me to a funny story that I think you'll find amusing...
Oh... I almost forgot...
Before you read the story, I just wanted to give you a quick reminder.
Never Lie To A Customer... Or You Just Might
End Up Looking Like a Jackass!
Back in the early 80's... my brother-in-law was working as a ticket agent for a major airline in the US, and frequently, as part of his job responsibility, he would take care of a select group of VIP customers who traveled quite often with the airline. These customers were considered an "elite" class and were given special attention at all times just to help insure they'd continue to fly exclusively with the airline.
One such "VIP" was an 86 year old woman -- an "independently wealthy" socialite from the west coast who traveled a lot... mostly for enjoyment, vacations, visiting relatives and attending "non-profit" events where she generously donated funds to worldly charitable causes, etc.
For the sake of this story, I'll refer to her as Mrs. Morris. And rest assured... she was a "sweetheart" of a lady from what my brother-in-law has told me.
Anyway, on this one particular day, my brother-in-law was busy registering airline passengers behind the ticket counter when he noticed a peculiar situation erupting which seemed to be getting more and more chaotic as time passed...
Mrs. Morris was in - what seemed to be - a very troubled state, pleading her case vigorously to several airline officials....
"I want to bring Juliet on the flight with me!" She was yelling...
"If you don't allow me to take her aboard... I'll take my business to another Airline!"
"She won't be any trouble at all!"
Just so you understand... Juliet was her dog... and not just any "dog". She was her princess. Anyone could tell this just from observing Mrs. Morris and Juliet together in the past...
Juliet's pet carrier was adorned with gemstones along all four corners and the front door of the carrier appeared to be made of what looked like 14K gold.
A plush red velvet blanket covered the entire four star "pet-house suite" and a slot was precisely cut in the top of the coverlet that allowed the ivory embossed handle to slip through conveniently to make it easy to carry.
In addition, the words "Juliet The Princess" were hand sewn into the velvet blanket with golden thread, big and bold, allowing the whole world to see it.
Mrs. Morris wouldn't let the carrier out of her site... after all Juliet was her "Baby" and she was obviously very over-protective of her. She was adamant that Juliet be allowed to board the flight with her this one time!
"Please... she begged. You don't understand. I just want to take her aboard with me just this one time. She's been very sick and I brought her here to New York to see her Vet. He's one of the finest Veterinarians in the entire country you know? And now, we both just want to be together and get home! It's been a long two days."
Behind the ticket counter, most of the airline workers were watching and wondering who'd win the battle...
-- VIP Frequent Flyer vs. Big Shot Airline?
Everyone realized that the airline officials didn't EVER want to have to tell someone of her status - "SUPER VIP" - the word NO!
So there she was... the gentle ole soul, pleading her case to one manager after another - in what was obviously a futile effort - each appeal falling upon another set of "deaf ears".
And as much as the airline representatives wanted to accommodate her... they simply could not.
The VP of public relations even got involved and expressed his apologies for the inconvenience, but stood firmly on their policy...
"I'm sorry Mrs. Morris." He explained...
"You know I'd do anything within my power to accommodate you and Juliet... but I simply cannot allow any pets on board the flight. I'm sure you understand... We'll be more than happy to assign a special agent to tend to Juliet and be sure she's treated with nothing but loving, tender care. In our eyes, Juliet is a VIP too."
The Customer Relations Supervisor continued to assure the kind, woman that "Juliet" would be fine with the other pets... and upon arrival in Seattle... someone from the airline would be waiting with "Juliet" as soon as she got off the plane.
"I'll call ahead to Seattle right now... Mrs. Morris. I'll inform our VIP department of the situation. Everything will be just fine! Now, you go take care of your boarding and we'll take GREAT care of Juliet... Okay?"
Mrs. Morris realized she was defeated so she reluctantly agreed to allow Juliet to fly in the pet compartment of the plane...
So... away went "Juliet" (in her plush pet carrier) in the gentle hands of one of the airline employees, and the ticket agent proceeded to check Mrs. Morris in... and then continued to help her board the airline.
The flight went smoothly from coast to coast...
Upon arrival in Seattle, the impeccably dressed woman exited the tunnel with the rest of the passengers and proceeded to wait anxiously for the airline personnel to reunite her and Juliet once again.
V.I.P personnel greeted Mrs. Morris with a warm welcome and kept her abreast of the situation as the minutes ticked by...
"Just a few more minutes Mrs. Morris... and we'll have Juliet here... and then you two can be on your way."
Would you like us to call for a cab or do you have a driver waiting?"
"Is there anything we can get for you while you wait?"
"We're sorry for the delay but it should only be a few more minutes..."
They continued to pamper Mrs. Morris while they all waited impatiently for Juliet's arrival...
A Big Problem!
Now... I'm not quite sure of the exact procedure for "de-boarding" pets from an airline, but at some point while the airline was taking the pets out of the plane and inspecting each animal... to their shock and horror they discovered that Juliet did not survive the flight home!
The panic set in immediately. Staffers were running around frantic trying to make some sense of the horrific situation.
How were they going to tell her? Who would tell her?
Someone had to tell sweet little ol' Mrs. Morris that "the love of her life" didn't make it.
But who? Who'd break the news?
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Sidebar
Just to reiterate... this story is 100% true. I can't name the airline by name -- but I can tell you that they were one of the most popular airlines in the sky back in the 80's.
It just goes to show you that even some of the largest companies in the world can sometimes stoop to unscrupulous measures to try and save their own A$$...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Anyway... I guess some "high ranking" airline official got a "hair-brained" idea.
He was afraid that if they broke the news to this 86 year old woman in the airport, not only would they lose her business forever (and a lot of business to boot) but the news might also kill her as well - right on the spot.
So they opted for a Plan-B...
Stall! Come up with a plan so we could think the situation through...
The Plot Thickens...
Ironically... upon further inspection of the dog to try and figure out what happened, they realized that Juliet was a pure bred, pure white "Poodle".
Hmmm! That might be a plus...
As unbelievable at it sounds... some "brain-dead" airline official thought he could out-smart this woman. He decided to tell her that Juliet was accidentally placed on the wrong flight.
"I don't know how to tell you this Mrs. Morris... but Juliet was mistakenly placed on the wrong flight..."
"I can't begin to imagine how upset you must be, and you have my word that I'll personally rectify the situation immediately! Rest assured Mrs. Morris... someone will be FIRED over this!..."
"You have my word that I'll assign a representative to locate Juliet immediately and we will personally deliver her to your home later this evening or early tomorrow morning."
The poor old woman was frantic. She nearly passed out from the news. She was horrified, shocked, dismayed... But what choice did she have?
Being reassured that Juliet would be located and returned to her ASAP, she painstakingly agreed to their proposal and went home to anxiously await Juliet's return.
So What Would The Airline Do Now?
Back at the ranch, the entire airline was in a complete panic. They decided to send a few representatives out into the local town to try and find a white "Poodle" that looked exactly like Juliet.
YUP! An imposter... Shame.. Shame... Shame...
They assumed that because the woman was so old, her eyesight failing miserably, her memory probably fading fast... that they had a 50/50 chance to pull it off and pass off a new dog as Juliet.
Was it worth the risk? Obviously they thought so...
And low and behold... after a whole day of relentless searching, they felt they'd found the perfect imposter.
Same size... same age... same color... same distinctive marking on her left paw... The perfect twin! How lucky... And how clever!
Brilliant... they thought!
Now all they needed to do was place the imposter in the plush pet carrier and deliver the resurrected "Juliet" to the little old woman's home immediately.
Would The Plan Work?
Two representatives from the airline drove out to the the small town outside of Seattle to reunite Juliet with Mrs. Morris.
They nervously stepped up onto the porch and rang the bell. After a few seconds, Mrs. Morris answered the door with sheer excitement...
"OH Juliet my love... you're home at last!"
But to the horror of the two airline reps, when Mrs. Morris opened the pet carrier door, an immediate look of horror came upon her face...
"This isn't Juliet!"
Acting as though they hadn't a clue about what she was talking about, the two airline reps immediately began petting the imposter and praising the cute little "Doggie"...
"You were such a good girl... Juliet!" You really missed your mamma... didn't you?
And one of the airline reps responded...
"What do you mean, Mrs. Morris"?
Mrs. Morris replied back in a stern voice...
"This isn't Juliet! Where's my precious little Juliet?"
"No, no Mrs. Morris... You must be mistaken... Of course this is Juliet."
Mrs. Morris once again replied back with even more concern and disbelief in her voice...
"Well then gentlemen... your airline must fly high up into the heavens... Because Juliet was put to rest yesterday by her Veterinarian and I was simply bringing her back home to bury her!"
The moral to the story...
Never Lie To A Customer -- No Matter How Difficult The Situation May Seem... Because In The End... Chances Are You'll End Up Looking Like A Jackass -- and even worse... losing a customer FOREVER!
I sure hope you got a chuckle out of it...
