I just received a terrible welcome mail

I have just received a shocking 'welcome email' after I engaged a company for the first time. An awful, automated atrocity that makes one want to head for the hills, howling like a hyena. Here's what's wrong with it: 

1. It should have come from a real person (it came from a company name)
2. It should greet me by name
3. It was all sell, sell, sell 
4. It was badly written
5. The font looked like a rabid robot went rogue

The very first email a customer receives from a business is critical. It needs to inspire and enlighten. It needs to show that a real person is out there behind the brand, willing to stick their neck out and be accountable. This is what people believe in today. This is what they trust. Now let's look at a welcome email that, in my biased opinion, is a shining and uplifting example to all of humanity. My team recently revamped the Welcome Journey for a super-smart tech start up called ibiLive. It worked so well that people started posting it all over social media:

Subject: Wish you were there

“Hi Scott

I used to work behind a desk in big corporate, staring at the cubicle in front of me. I felt like a child stuck at school, longingly staring out to the playground. I wished I was home in the south of Italy, enjoying the beach. I would look at the photos stuck on my pre-fab wall and think to myself 'I wish I was there.'

This is why I chose to create ibiLive. I wanted to help people like you (and me!) experience somewhere else, even for a minute. Right now, you could use the ibiLive.com app to be anywhere.

Stroll around with ibiLive installed on your phone. Ping - someone from across the world sends you a request. All you have to do is hold up your phone and follow their instructions. If they ask you to "point your camera over there" then they will see what you see. Forget virtual reality... this is actual reality."

The follow-ups were just as good, if not better. Click here to experience the entire Journey for yourself.

One thing about a welcome mail - almost everyone will read it. It's that one chance to impress. If the follow-ups are done equally well, a great Welcome Journey will get 1000% and often 2000% higher response rates than conventional marketing. This is precisely what we do.

Incidentally, Pasquale Cataldi is the owner of ibiLive and he is looking for businesses to pilot his tech on a corporate level. If you are keen to run a pilot of ibiLive in your company, you can contact him at [email protected].

SCOTT CUNDILL

Catalyst, CEO

www.majestic3.com

Offices: London | Johannesburg | Cape Town