Here’s an interesting marketing strategy…

• Call up all your prospects who’ve registered an interest in what you do,
• Point out they’ve been registered on your site for 6 months, then strongly imply they’re indebted to you because they haven’t bought anything yet (being registered on your site and logging in a few times is expensive, right?),
• Suggest they either become a customer, or bugger off.

So let me ask you…

What kind of response would you get?

Reckon it would help sales?

How about your reputation in this web 2.0, socially connected world?

Exactly.

That’s why I was so surprised when a reasonably well known list broker – abandoning their charm, common sense, long term strategy and reputation – decided to try this ploy on me today.

And the more I think about it, the more insane this strategy becomes. Let’s reframe it in a B2C online situation…

Imagine you’re a registered Amazon customer. You’re new to Amazon and haven’t bought anything for a few months, but you’ve been browsing reviews etc. Out of the blue, you get a call from Amazon asking you to either buy something from them, or stop visiting their site and cancel your registration.

Charming, eh?

Of course, list segmentation is very important – especially the basics of segmenting buyers and non-buyers. It’s marketing 101.

But the idea is to try and get the non-buyers to buy. Not irritate them to the point of walking away through sheer indignation – and advising everyone they know to avoid you like a coughing pig.

….

At this point it’s very tempting to reveal who these short-sighted people – who strive to isolate and annoy all but their paying customers – are.

But I’m going to resist – and here’s why:

The Tar Baby Principle is true in this case: “You are attached to what you attack.” The last thing I want is any attachment to these idiots.

That and the fact I’m so confident in their own unique brand stupidity, they need no outside help from me.

So sorry to disappoint, but naming and shaming isn’t what this post is about. It’s a reminder to us all that:

• If you’re nice to your prospective customers, they’re more likely to buy from you.
• If you give away something to attract prospective customers, don’t be angry when less than 100% of them fail to become customers – then blame them for your lacking sales conversion abilities.

Yes, yes, it sounds obvious, but going by my experience today, even companies in the marketing business (who should know better) still need a reminder occasionally.

Furthermore, if insolent imbeciles like this are competitors in your market, then treating your prospects with respect (something we should all do naturally) suddenly becomes a strong selling point for you.

Rant over.

~George.

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