Hasta La Creative!

A short while back, I determined that I should probably pen a letter to clients that would be sent to them if I unexpectedly died. A morbid thought, I know. But it is true that, despite our best efforts to the contrary,100% of us will die. The only real question is when. While I am quite sure that I will not care one little bit about advertising when I am dead, I do have a desire to make sure that the agency I own has everything it needs to continue without me. My accountant, my CPA, my wife and my partner all know what I would like them to do. There is actually a solid plan outlined. The only group that does not know my expectations of them are our clients. And they are the group that most needs to be told all will be OK at Proof without me. At least most of them.

To that end, I thought it would be a good idea to draft a letter that announced my unplanned departure from this earth, my overall excitement about heaven and my hope that our clients continue to have the team at Proof be their agency. The last thing I want the team to deal with is unnecessary client concern and rapid client defection — especially when everyone should be focused on grieving my death. (Side bar: I do have a couple of requests for the agency that are not documented. No car-pooling to the funeral. I want a long processional. And I certainly want some post-funeral mentions. Maybe even a monthly happy hour in my name.)

For some reason this untimely-departure-from-earth letter was on my mind as I boarded the final leg home after a four-city, three-night trip. I don’t know why. I certainly am not worried about flying and spend close to 100 days a year in the air. So I don’t know what was driving this line of thinking. I boarded, avoiding all eye contact with people sitting near me. I had my headphones on signaling that I did not want to be pitched for insurance or financial consulting services. The person next to me did not try to start an unnecessary conversation, so all was well. I had my iPad at the ready for 10,000 feet so I could get to work.

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