Finally, after all these months

Finally, after nearly a year of waiting and anticipation I got my new AT&T telephone book and "real" Yellow Pages today. Almost missed it - it was in a plastic bag tossed on the driveway where I might drun over it if I wasn't looking for it.

The phone book ain't what it used to be, and the Yellow Pages - if they ever expected me to use them, they'd be yellow from age before that happened.

If I want a number, I Google it or use my Outlook.

So I guess I'll be a whole year (again) without any actual phone book to use because I ceremoniously placed the two books in the recycling bin.

What a waste of resources to produce something that is about as useful as an 8-track player. At least it keeps people employed.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

26 comments • Steve Hoffacker - Sales Trainer/Coach, Sales Books Author, Photographer • September 24 2008 12:15PM

What's wrong with this picture?

If you were going to print and distribute an alternative to the traditional Yellow Pages that you call "Yellow Book," and you run a rather extensive TV campaign for trying to generate interest in it, why would you be so haphazard in how you actually deliver it to the consumer?

Yesterday, someone dropped (or threw - I wasn't watching so I can tell which it was) 2 of those Yellow Book directories, each in a yellow plastic bag, over my fence and into the yard.

I didn't request them, I wasn't looking forward to using them, and had they survived I would have placed them directly in the recycling bin without even looking at them. I certainly wouldn't have paid for them.

Notice I said if they had survived. Well, my dog loves to shred plastic bags - and their contents - whether it's a UPS delivery, FedEx, USPS, newspaper, or anything else. So why should this be any different?

Soon I had one partially destroyed yellow bag with the book separated from it and another yellow bag completely shredded with pages of the book littering my yard. Both total losses.

So not only was I irritated at having something dumped off at my home without my requesting it, expecting it, or wanting it, now I had to clean up my yard.

One marketing mistake on top of another.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

17 comments • Steve Hoffacker - Sales Trainer/Coach, Sales Books Author, Photographer • July 12 2008 08:09AM