Plain Jane Names and the Wooing of Potential Customers
Whilst watching the news last night we saw a man with the strangest name; his name was Joe Householder. He might as well been named John Doe, James Smith or my favourite... Current Resident.
I'm not sure if the UK-ers get these but in the US we get tons of junk mail addressed to Current Resident. They don't give a rats a** who you are as long as you see this mail-out and buy their product.
I don't know about you, but if these companies want me to spend any hard earned money on their product they had better do a number of things FIRST!
1. They MUST use my proper name. Anything else and they are just not speaking to "me". My name is NOT Bonnie Lassie.
2. Not only do they have to get the name correct, but the SPELLING must also be correct. I don't know who MHN fer Short is, but it ain't ME!
3. Let's have a decent product, shall we??? Don't try to sell me a pack of over priced junk that will just clutter up the house, ok? Let's at least make an effort in selling useful items. Is that too much to ask for? I think not.
Those are for catalog or mail items, now let us see what stores need to do.
They have a slightly easier time of it, afterall, I'm already there, am I not...
1. Now first things first, do not attack me the very second that I cross the threshold. To the hubby and me, that is a HUGE turn-off! We have left stores for that before.
2. Do not "hound" me. Following a person around in the store after they said that they were "just looking" is a rude and obnoxious thing to do. Please, I may not have a lot of money, but I certainly won't STEAL anything! That's why God invented plastic! (Of course, we are trying to get away from using said "plastic", but they don't need to know that, do they?) You will do better by acknowledging me once I've looked about a bit and then leave me to my own devices. Left alone, I might just find something that could be of use in my house or on my person...
3. Don't completely leave the store or go to the back. What if I need help with something that I ACTUALLY want to buy??? Just because I told you that I was "just looking" doesn't mean that I won't find anything that peaks my interest enough to want to touch it or take a closer look. If I put it in my hand, I just might purchase the item. Makes sense, no?
These are a few basic principles that retailers should live by. Most do a pretty decent job and some are better at it than others. I must not be alone in my assessment of these places, otherwise Wal-Mart and Costco wouldn't be so bloody popular...
I'm not sure if the UK-ers get these but in the US we get tons of junk mail addressed to Current Resident. They don't give a rats a** who you are as long as you see this mail-out and buy their product.
I don't know about you, but if these companies want me to spend any hard earned money on their product they had better do a number of things FIRST!
1. They MUST use my proper name. Anything else and they are just not speaking to "me". My name is NOT Bonnie Lassie.
2. Not only do they have to get the name correct, but the SPELLING must also be correct. I don't know who MHN fer Short is, but it ain't ME!
3. Let's have a decent product, shall we??? Don't try to sell me a pack of over priced junk that will just clutter up the house, ok? Let's at least make an effort in selling useful items. Is that too much to ask for? I think not.
Those are for catalog or mail items, now let us see what stores need to do.
They have a slightly easier time of it, afterall, I'm already there, am I not...
1. Now first things first, do not attack me the very second that I cross the threshold. To the hubby and me, that is a HUGE turn-off! We have left stores for that before.
2. Do not "hound" me. Following a person around in the store after they said that they were "just looking" is a rude and obnoxious thing to do. Please, I may not have a lot of money, but I certainly won't STEAL anything! That's why God invented plastic! (Of course, we are trying to get away from using said "plastic", but they don't need to know that, do they?) You will do better by acknowledging me once I've looked about a bit and then leave me to my own devices. Left alone, I might just find something that could be of use in my house or on my person...
3. Don't completely leave the store or go to the back. What if I need help with something that I ACTUALLY want to buy??? Just because I told you that I was "just looking" doesn't mean that I won't find anything that peaks my interest enough to want to touch it or take a closer look. If I put it in my hand, I just might purchase the item. Makes sense, no?
These are a few basic principles that retailers should live by. Most do a pretty decent job and some are better at it than others. I must not be alone in my assessment of these places, otherwise Wal-Mart and Costco wouldn't be so bloody popular...
posted by M at 3:46 PM
8 Comments:
What are Wal-Mart and Costco? I frequent gentlemen's tailors, and have my hampers delivered from Fortum and Mason's.
Which reminds me. My local Maccy D's is always running out of strawberry milkshakes. Fuckers are local to here and never deliver the goods. Something must be said.
And they say "enjoy your meal". Tossers.
What??? No Wal-Mart in your village??? Holy Mole, I thought that they were EVERYWHERE!
Costco=Tesco
Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target= general stores that carry just about anything and have a pharmacy & grocery store in it too.
Oh M-I totally agree!
I saw you note about coming to Texas. Yes, I'm still coming and looking forward to meeting you.
Is the 20th still going to work?
Since I'm heading south from Houston anyway I could always come your way so you don't have to go far from home.
I'm visiting my mom so don't have access to my home mail but will try through Yahoo!
I second that mhn....
It's nice to know that I'm not being irrational in my assessment of retailers. :-D
I can put up with bad service from retailers a lot more than I can from people in restaurants.
Time for a post dear gal.
I'm bored,
It's nice to know that you still visit. :-)
I'll get on the post a.s.a.p.
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