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Well, maybe “hate” is a bit strong, but as Alan Rosenspan explains here today…

People Don’t Like Marketing

And they used to love us…

According to the Direct Marketing Association, people receive over 5,000 marketing messages a day. They appear in their mailbox, inbox, TV, cell phones, movie theatres, radios, public bathrooms, airports – the list goes on and on.

It’s like Visa; except it’s everywhere you don’t want it to be.

This dislike of marketing is relatively new, but it has spawned new products and even new technologies such as TIVO, Satellite Radio, spam filters, and more. That will only increase in the future.

Before I talk about what you can do about it, let me share a letter that I came across recently. I can’t vouch for it’s authenticity, but it rings true to me.

The letter was from an 86-year old woman to her local bank manager:
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Dear Sir:
I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month.

By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it.

I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years.

You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank. My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways.

I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, — when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity, which your bank has become.

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.

Be aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contract, which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative.

I will issue your employee with a PIN number, which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

IMMEDIATELY AFTER DIALING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH

#1. To make an appointment to see me
#2. To query a missing payment.
#3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
#4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping
#5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
#6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
#7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later date to that Authorized Contact mentioned earlier.
#8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7.
#9. To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.
#10. This is a second reminder to press* for English. While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.

May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?
Sincerely,
Your Humble Client

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What can you do to make people not resent your marketing?

There’s really only one answer, and that’s to add value to every communication.

* Give them information they can use.
* Treat them with intelligence and respect.
* Show them you value their time as much as they do.
* Focus on them, and not on you.

Alan Rosenspan is the president of Alan Rosenspan & Associates, an award-winning direct marketing creative and consulting firm. You can (and should) subscribe to his newsletter and receive his Free Report, “101 Ways to Improve Response” at alanrosenspan.com.

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