An Open Letter (okay, blog post) to Toyota’s James Lentz

Dear Jim,

As President of Toyota Motor Sales US, I know you are dealing with a very difficult situation and I think I may be able to help turn your nightmare into a dream (at least on the PR front.)  I can help provide every Toyota customer with a free browser-based web conferencing account so they can telecommute while their recalled car is being repaired.  

You can turn this crisis around: customers who are scared to drive Toyotas and those who need to bring their car in for repair can use Toyota Web Conferencing to join meetings, attend job interviews, or meet virtually with a teacher.  By proactively providing this service now, millions of Toyota customers (and your competitor’s customers) will instantly be delighted that you have gone beyond their expectations.  They will see that Toyota has their best interests in mind and you will have taken positive steps to enhance the brand loyalty your industry relies on.  Take it from this marketer: long after this crisis is over, your response will be all anyone remembers.  How you handle this adversity will define how you are perceived for years to come.  I want to help.

Jim, feel free to have someone contact me.  I have the ability to help you rapidly deploy this solution in a matter of days.  Even if you view this crisis well in hand today, consider how a web conferencing solution can assist future Toyota service customers from all of your dealerships.

Steve

P.S. "Surprise and Delight" is one of the 5 secrets of Apple marketing you'll find in my free eBook.  I woke up thinking about how this can be applied even in a crisis situation and hence this letter was born.