An Open Apology to Kevin Hillstrom
Dear Kevin:
In the past year, there hasn’t been a week that’s gone by that I haven’t received at least half a dozen connections (emails, voice mails, DM’s, texts, in-person contacts, etc.) asking me to wage a battle, sometimes even an all-out war, with you.
Some folks are nice about it. Others? Not so much.
I have never picked up the rope because honestly Kevin, I think you are one of the best things to happen to our suicidal industry. (Suicidal may be the wrong word but it’s certainly the right sentiment.)
We have very different styles, you and I. You are quiet, polite, and give people more free information than they could possibly handle on your Mine That Data Blog and through your @minethatdata Twitter account. You are generous with your posts, all of which I read, and only two-thirds of which I am smart enough to understand.
I, on the other hand, am aggressive, caustic, brash, frequently obnoxious and often a “bully.” I constantly tell people their websites suck, their e-mail programs are a train wreck, and ask them if they are smoking crack. Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV (@garyvee on Twitter) says that 7-9 out of every 100 people who come to his speeches will dislike him. My number is about 37 and yes, I know, that’s being conservative.
I believe in best practices, you don’t.
I believe our industry is getting slaughtered by online-only retailers because most of our guys are too slow, too wimpy, and too flipping arrogant to get out of their own way. (If one more person tells me they are worried about hurting their brand while simultaneously laying off dozens of employees, I might just smack them, but I digress.)
You and I are very different but we both want the same thing. For this industry to succeed.
Last week, you were quoted in The New York Times, which is impressive by any account, in an article about shopping cart abandonment along with John Squire of Coremetrics* (who might need a primer on exactly what some of his clients are doing successfully.) The snippet from the article appears like this:
KEVIN HILLSTROM, president of MineThatData, a consulting firm, also looks askance at worries about shopping cart abandonment.
