Tired of Marketing?

You know it. Every day is your mail box full with great offers, ads, and coupons. Every day, you take a call given by a company claiming to be affiliate to your bank, and offering you some wonderful service. Occasionally, a nice guy rings your door bell, and admires your yard, house, or something else before he tells you that he has something special right for you. Not to mention your e-mail box. Well, it is a market. Someone produces something, but it is not enough; it is necessary to sell, and change the product into money. It is called a reproduction cycle.

However, enough is enough. I do not know how you react to such offers, but I am simply tired, sometimes even annoyed. Therefore I offer you some tips how to avoid it. First off all, I have to say it is a long-term process, and you cannot reach it in one week, but it is effective. The point is that you have to be consistent all the time you encounter some of the marketing techniques.

Let’s begin with your mail. Recently I have read an article trying to help small business with letting people know about their services or products. The key point was to mark their envelope with some attractive sign, like URGENT, LIMITED OFFER, and so on. Well, any time I see such envelope I throw it right to the trash without even taking it home. I only open envelopes without any signs. It is still not sufficient. It usually contents some offers for better credit, better loan, better insurance, and basically better financial product. I do not study it from the beginning to the end. I usually go right to the end looking for a sentence typed in small letters: You can opt-out from receiving next offer by calling the number XYZ, or online. Well, I did it many years ago, and still receive such junk. You are given their business envelope for faster and free response. So I highlight the sentence “You can opt-out…,” make a note with capital letters CHECK IT OUT and send the entire trash back to them in their pre-paid envelope. I have not received any such offer for more than five months now.

Telemarketing is different, and uses offensive and defensive techniques. Salesman (does not actually matter how they call themselves) is first asking you how are you (as common courtesy), and then introduces himself/herself, and begins to read his prepared text. He has a gift for you, a great opportunity, or asks you where you are insured, bank, or work. He verifies your address where he can send the gift to, and continues to read. For a small fee, you can have a special service (reminder of birthdays or doctor visits), or have magazines according to your choice in your mail box. I do not think it is necessary to bring more examples but what do we do about it? Well, first of my techniques was, “I do not understand; can you repeat it please?” It was very effective because they could not bear it after some time, but as you can imagine, it was time consuming, so I developed a different strategy. After introducing themselves, I announce that I never buy anything over the phone. “If you have something to offer to me, send it to me by mail since you already have my address. Oh, you have a gift for me? O.K., that is nice of you, send it to me by mail too. Oh, you do not sell anything? Then why do you waste my time?” You would be surprised how well it works. For some of you that can see the caller ID, I have another tip inspired by a friend of mine. You have to take this call, and every time you take it, you have to repeat with an automated voice “Please, remove this number from your call list.” This is very boring, but I can guarantee you it works perfectly. I have reduced those marketing calls by 70%.

Automated calls usually start with number 8 and require a different technique. Even if I am on the do-not-call list, I still receive such calls. I consider such call to be extremely naughty. Why don’t they even bother calling you personally? I have to admit that I do not exactly know how to avoid these calls. Another friend of mine uses a method that he takes the call, puts the receiver on the table, and does something else. After some time, he hangs up claiming, “I just block their line, and therefore I save time of other consumers.” Since I have a caller ID on my phone I can see who is calling me, and do not take such calls at all. If I see Private Caller or Unknown Number I use my friend’s technique playing an automat (see above.) Those individuals shying of their identity have some reasons for it, and I will not play their game. If any of you has some special techniques on how to discourage them from calling I would be glad to learn from you.

Email marketing is something that you cannot avoid completely. Anytime you order anything online, you are asked to put your email address, and your mailing address. It has two reasons. First, the company you are ordering from has to have your billing information. Next, it will keep your information for their next marketing approaches. Well, the only way to reduce it is to set up alternative email addresses. It costs you nothing, and can help you keep your private email free of ads. Never ever open emails (either your private account, or the account for online purchases) coming from addresses you do not know. Always mark this address as a spam and THAN delete it. The more addresses you mark as a spam, the less chance they will have to intrude on your email next time and perhaps even on emails of other people.

This rather anonymous marketing differs from the very personal one when a guy stands in front of your door. He is extremely courteous, smiling, admiring something on your house/you/your pets/your children, etc. Now, it poses a question whether I should be polite to him or not. After many people coming in and out, I can say no. Yes, be polite, answer his greetings but never let him go in, and never take anything from him. Once you let him go in your house, will have a problem to get him out until you provide him with information, or even a sign so-called preliminary quote, or an agreement. In fact, I had to literally kick one of those individuals out. I will never forget his face - incredulous, and surprised.

You have to know that they are trained to be polite, to smile, and to stay put until they reach their goal. They are not concerned about your feelings even if they pretend so. Again, they are trained to do so. Their goal is to sell regardless of your moods, or a situation. They rely on your courtesy. They have their speech ready for every occasion; or rather for every business occasion regarding their product. In some way they are like trained monkeys. I was at some business office where the sales reps were trained. Coming in, I was greeted with people in business attire and big, exaggerated smiles. I was asked where I have come from. After my answer, a guy replied “That’s fantastic!” Gee, what was fantastic about where I came from? I realized that this guy just showed me what he knew – his smile and enthusiastic behavior not thinking of anything else. He did not know anything else; he did not know any better. So, you do not have to worry about not having such people come in your house, and even about not to be polite to them. They count and rely on your courtesy, but they are not surprised if you are rude to them. They are used and trained to it.

This is what the entire marketing relies on. It worked for so many years, so why it should not work that way anymore? Well, because…. It is approximately 20 – 30 years old, and the world has changed as well as people have. People are not so stupid how the marketing strategists would like them to be. Let them come out with some new marketing strategies. Do not let them treat us as fools. Let them develop new methods based on dignity and humanity rather than humiliation. It is not necessary to earn money immediately; rather to keep steadily increasing income based on credibility, confidence, and tradition.