Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

I got a lovely big postcard in the mail on Saturday, addressed to:

Mary
Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter
(Snail mail address)

Now, ordinarily - no big whoop. I’d look at, grin that their mail merge put just my first name, do “the flip” (what’s the offer?) and then put it in the recycling bin.

However, this card was from the printing company I wrote about in Small Biz Snafus. I will never, ever do business with the company again.

Yet another example of “everything you do is marketing.” In this case, management of the accounts database. They not only wasted their card, but they reminded me of how much I don’t like the company…and guess what I’ll be talking about at lunch with a colleague today? That “word-of-mouth” marketing thang is good and bad.

P.S. If you’re going to do direct mail, take the time to review your list for quality. (Those huge “thousands of names for only $1.98″ cold lists aren’t even worth that.) Yep, it’s a pain but you’ll get a better response rate - and less paper in the landfill.

Related Post: Snail Mail Marketing: Don’t Forget The Garlic Butter

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, small business marketing, customer service, direct mail