My Needs or Theirs?

So the other day I got an email from a vendor - one that I had been very upset with re: what I considered to be an unresolved situation. Its probably been a good 6 months since the situation occurred, but still - it left an impression.

My plan was to never do work with that vendor again based on that negative experience. I'll say that I probably could have been won back over with a lot of apologies, proof that it would never happen again, etc. Instead, what I did get was an email asking me to have a meeting with this company to let them present products that we may want to consider for our clients.

That just solidified my feelings about them. Here was my response to their request:

We've got a pretty full schedule this week, and honestly, I still remember how we were treated with the whole misprint issue the other year. That left a pretty good sting that I never felt was properly resolved. Hate to say it, but it left a mark! Thanks for checking in. Best, Dustin

As much as I was irritated by their email and the further responses that ensued, I did come away with a valuable lesson - as MMs, we should never send our clients emails or calls out of the blue when we want something. All relationships are back and forth's, so its fine to "sell" another service or product to your client, but we need to tip the scale in the favor of our clients, and make them feel a 2 to 1 ratio of always being given more value than they're spending or being "sold". The relationship should be more than just about the next thing we can sell.

Bottom line - Its about their needs, not ours.