How not to turn down an offer
Drew, the RocketBoom guy shows us how not to turn down a business deal:
I have been losing sleep over it and decided this is just not going to be right for Rocketboom. While I expect this will be a big traffic loss for us, at heart, I really love Apple and will stick by them in this competition. I also remembered from last year that Microsoft was the first company to really make me feel as though I was being taken advantage of personally.
That's what's called "burning your bridges". Dynamiting them, actually. One of the commenters there put it best:
This really makes me want to negotiate with you regarding sponsorship opportunities on rocketboom.
If it goes badly, can i assume you'll badmouth my company, too?
This is the sort of thing you handle privately. If there's a need to make a public comment at all, it should not be disparaging.
Update: Scoble had this to say on his blog:
James Robertson says this isn’t the way to turn down a deal cause it blows up all bridges. I don’t agree. You define yourself and your business by the customers you fire. I’m sure that the next sponsorship deal that Andy gets offered will be a lot more like what Seagate gave me than what Microsoft usually offers.
I still don't think so. I think handling that sort of thing quietly would work out a lot better. I suspect that the PR/advertising people looking at RocketBoom don't think much of it either. When he gets other offers, it will be in spite of - not due to - this missive. Meaning, the large volume of traffic will be enough to push this mistake aside.
Technorati Tags: marketing, management
Comments
Re: How not to turn down an offer
[ Troy Brumley] November 12, 2006 18:59:20.623
Comment by Troy Brumley
I kinda think of this sort of scene when I hear the name "rocketboom" :)
comments and traffic
[meanguy] November 13, 2006 13:54:15.778
the comment you quote above was mine. that comment and many others critical of drew's handling of the situation were deleted. ironically, the posts that remain position him as the "savior standing up for open web communication" role he thinks he gets so much mileage out of.
of course, mass deleting of comments is an odd move from someone who's complaining that microsoft is threatening to silence contradictory opinions on the web... but where's the fun in pointing that out.
also funny that you mention rocketboom's traffic and how that cures all. the kid has managed three advertisers across 500+ shows. also looks like his contradictory audience claims to businessweek, dow jones and rolling stone have finally caught up with him. we'll see how that plays out.