OK, it’s my fault. I made (what now appears to have been) the mistake on March 6, 2019, of clicking the “learn more” button in an email sent to me by an animated video production company. “Step into my parlor,” said the spider to the fly.

Near as I can tell, their next communication came on June 10: “Just wanted to circle back to you again and see if you would be interested in getting an animated video for your website or landing pages that can increase your sales up to 40%?”

Well, I wasn’t.  I wrote back: “It’s something we’ve considered. Not at a “decision point” yet.   I’ll save your email and re-look in September.”

During October, then again in November, and again in February, different people from the company prompted me with emails, offering me different packages and declining prices for a first video. My answers were the same. “Not there yet.”

Most recently, on March 5, upon receiving my most recent, “Not there yet,” a company representative wrote to me saying:

“Is it because of the pricing? We have a whiteboard animation promotion this week that might work. It’s for Whiteboard only for just $499 ($400 off list price) – see the details below.”

Here is my response, after giggling and before editing: “No!”

The question he COULD have asked might have been: “What’s been happening?  As in, I notice that you’ve been putting off a decision for a year, while continuing to respond to our emails.  That suggests you have SOME interest. Maybe there’s another way we could help. What’s been happening?”

And, my longer response might have been, “No, not pricing.  It’s because our client industry and many others are severely challenged and we’re responding to that; I haven’t reached a comfort level with either the content or the platform for a new web site and I don’t feel well-enough settled to make that decision; our plan for this year doesn’t include animated videos; and, if we used one of your videos and sales went up 40%, it would probably kill our company. If you were PAYING me to use your videos, my answer would be the same. No! ”

But he didn’t ask that question.  He asked, “Do you need us to reduce price to be attractive to you?”

So my best and final response, after editing, was: “No, thank you.”

Nick Miller trains banks and bankers to attract and expand relationships with business clients. He is President of Clarity Advantage based in Concord, MA. Additional articles on Clarity’s web site.