A personal email arrived in my inbox today.
Because I've been reading his research, Bill Martorelli from Forrester was offering me the chance to meet him 1:1 at the Forrester IT Forum EMEA so I could gain some more insight into his research.
How could I turn that opportunity down?
Actually, it was quite easily.
Because this wasn't a personal email at all. It was a very thinly disguised mass mailing from the EMEA events team, trying to flog me a ticket.
Nothing wrong with a bit of smart selling but it needed better execution. If Forrester want to use this "make it personal" approach, then they best make sure it's believeable.