Thank you to everyone who expressed their sympathies on the death of my brother Ron Fischman.
And no thanks to the sales rep who called my dear wife Rona the day after Ron died…and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
We heard the news of Ron’s death on Wednesday, October 1. On Thursday, a company that does business with Google called Rona about her business page.
“Good morning, Rona, and how are you today?”
“Not very good, actually. My brother-in-law died yesterday.”
“Oh, so sorry to hear that. I won’t take much of your time. I noticed that your company had recently moved. Would you like help changing your physical address on Google?”
“I don’t want to buy anything today, but if you can help me with that, let’s take a minute and do it.”
“Great! I also want to tell you about the SEO services our company can offer your business.”
“What? Did you hear what I just said? What kind of monster are you?”
And the sales rep hung up.
Whether you’re selling a product or a service or asking for a donation, when someone is in mourning, just stop. Period. “I’m sorry for your loss, and I’ll call back another time” is acceptable. Nothing more, not one word.
If common decency isn’t enough reason, think of this: do you want people to think of their loved one’s death every time they think of you?
A failure of simple humanity.
And in a more technical sense, a failure to *listen* – something every good salesperson does well.
I’ve been thinking of you and your family.
Right on, Mary, on both counts. This kind of “marketing” makes the marketer look like a jerk–because he’s acting that way–and it reflects poorly on the product or cause he’s trying to promote. Apparently, though, people need to be trained not to act like jerks when a family is in mourning.
I had multiple political calls this week. When I explained I was in mourning, the idiot on the line asked did I think I would feel okay to visibility this weekend! Also, the calls from those who prey on the mourners….FOR SHAME!
Beth, you and your kids have been constantly in my mind these last ten days. For shame, indeed. Any candidate whose staff ask for volunteer time when you’re in mourning runs the risk of losing your vote. It’s worse than what happened to Rona: https://dennisfischman.com/your-volunteers-are-your-reputation-2/.