A Rude Awakening

Photo: blog.wareseeker.com

About 3 1/2 year ago – a little after my business began operations – I decided to host events to bring about brand awareness. I was in search of a wine sponsor to offer raffle prizes, so I sent  emails to several wine stores in my area.   I did a brief search for owner names, so some of the emails were sent with the owner’s name and others were not.

One of the emails responses I received was from Darren Siegfried, the owner of Red, White and Bubbly.  I forget what he said verbatim, but it was something to the effect that he generally donates wine to local events;  and he couldn’t believe I had the audacity to write to him with such a request without taking the time to research his name - and address him accordingly.

Judith of  Net Manners .com discusses the  ”Five Essential Elements of Every Email.

So after I received that email, I did a bit more research; not only did I find him name easily, but I also found out he is a sommelier and the owner of a very successful wine shop…boy did I screw up!!

Bottom line, I wound up being sponsored by Rioja Wines, but I learned a very valuable lesson that day – a little research goes a long way! 

What valuable lesson did you learn the hard way?