• The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics
• A Call to Die
• The Gospel & Epistles of John, 2 Volumes in 1
• Now Is Not Forever
• Holy Discontent
• Judas and the Gospel of Jesus

When I got home from the Biscuit Barn yesterday, the box had finally arrived.  I was quite excited, but my excitement was instantly tempered by the condition of the box.

It looked like it had been dropped from a 15-story building…multiple times.  As anal as I am about the condition of my books, I was expecting the worse — and opening the box didn’t do anything to allay my concerns.  Here’s what the inside looked like (click for a larger view):

The bag you see is the only packing material in the box, and it had burst completely — which meant, of course, that it was just a plastic bag and wasn’t providing any useful purpose at all.  Note, too, that three of the four edges of the box had been almost completely torn.  They were held together by copious amounts of packing tape on the outside.

Dismay quickly turned to perplexed amusement when I unpacked everything, however.  Here’s what was in the box:

If you’re scoring at home, I did receive two of the things I ordered.  However I also received three other things that could not have been more unrelated:

• A headlight for a tractor (in a very beaten-up box)
• A container of “Jif To Go” peanut butter
• What I am guessing is a package of Japanese rice noodles (in Japanese!)

I just sat there and stared at it, trying to make these contents make sense somehow.  Ultimately I think I’ve decided that there was some sort of catastrophic mishap at the post office that demolished numerous packages.  Someone was then left to figure out which items went in which boxes…very hastily, apparently.

To CBD’s credit, I called their phone number and instantly talked to a customer service representative (Erin) who was fantastic.  She immediately placed the missing items in an expedited order at no additional cost.

And she didn’t even make me send back the peanut butter

When in doubt, make your product more compelling. All of Fog Creek’s affiliate marketing ideas, coupons, discounts, direct-mail pieces, catalog ads, and everything else we spent time on — none of this was as good a use of our time as simply doing what we loved best anyway: creating useful software.

I know that seems to be clear all on its own, but trust me: you need to read the whole article to really comprehend what he’s saying.  If you’re trying to grow your business, there are few pieces of advice as critical as this.

(HT: Wildfire Marketing)