Momism Marketing Rule #2: Mind Your Manners

Feb 8, 2010 Posted by Sue Publicover on Feb 8, 2010 in Marketing thoughts, Momism Marketing | 0 comments

I hate auto-dialed calls. I hate the pregnant pause from the moment I say “Hello” until some multi-tasking call center employee picks up the other end and butchers my name. And I despise being subjected to a poorly scripted sales pitch, delivered by someone who is paid a pittance to annoy me.

What bugs me even more are those calls that come from a political candidate who is asking for my support. The other night, in the midst of the dinner hour, I got a call from such a tele-bugger, with a very thick foreign accent who asked me a few quick qualifying questions to determine I am a registered voter. She then told me (didn’t ask) to hold on the line because she was transferring me to this politician’s office so I could state my position on the health reform bill. Before she put me on hold, she told me not to hang up.

So I hung up.

This person never asked if I had a few minutes or if I wanted to share my thoughts with someone from my senator’s office. She just pushed herself on me, the epitome of interruption marketing.

Some business people get so jazzed by the ease of connecting with their consumers that they forget the gentle art of “please” and “thank you”. We teach our kids to use their manners but suddenly forget them when it comes to trawling for a sale.

Just because you have the technology to launch a marketing campaign—whether via telephone, Internet, mobile, or other cool tool—doesn’t mean you should use it. Think about your audience. Consider their response to your message. Be honest with yourself and, if you can’t feel confident that they will welcome your message and the medium you use, stop. And then ask yourself if you want to be an intruder or an invited guest. And always, ALWAYS mind your manners!