One of the first things that I identified as a requirement when I started trying to develop my Latin American businesses was the need to attempt to communicate in a language that my customers understood. In 1990, the first of the mass fax programs were now affordable as were the early attempts at translation programs. So I learned the software, spent three months developing my leads list, and started faxing out monthly sales letters to the top 500 retailers in the Caribbean, South, and Central America. I translated these into Portuguese and Spanish with the help of the computer and started being referred to as the “fax man” when I finally met these future clients at trade shows.
One of the companies I represented was Retroneu , a higher end flatware company. The top tier of their product line was branded as the “Landmark Collection”, bridal registry flatware that retailed for $150 - $200 per place setting. I wrote a marvelous sales letter explaining why every top retailer should be carrying the magnificent Landmark collection in their bridal departments. I then proofed the letter, ran it through the translation software, and faxed it out.
Unfortunately, the program didn’t recognized the word Landmark and substituted its best guess which was “heap”. The literal translation for heap is mierda (sp?). So I sent out a letter to the merchandise managers, owners, and buyers of the major Latin America retailers explaining why they should be carrying “un magnificante colleccion de mierda,” loosely translated as a marvelous pile of excrement. I received more than 3 dozen responses within the next 2 days explaining my error.
I didn’t know it at the time, but that mistake did more to endear me to customers/prospects than almost anything I had done to that point. I became human. I was making an effort to communicate, however poorly, in their language. I opened more new accounts in the next few months than at any other time during that particular part of my sales career because I wasn’t another indifferent salesman trying to make a sale, I was just another human trying to make a connection.
The reason I share this, is that it amazes me how many people don’t do things because they are afraid of making mistakes. We learn the most from making mistakes, but sometimes during the process, we also make wonderful friendships because we care enough to try. I’m sure that I’ll make plenty of mistakes as I try to be part of the transition from traditional marketing toward personally connecting with and listening to our individual, human customers. But I guess I’d rather look foolish than to be left alone and out of business.
