On Sept. 11 there will be two kinds of Americans: Those absorbed in media, trying to make sense of the events from a year ago and those studiously avoiding the media, staying in bed with the covers pulled up over their heads. On that day, neither of these two groups will be buying much.
The buzz is that a lot of marketers are going to shut down their outreach efforts, which is probably a good idea from a pragmatic, as well as sensitivity, point of view.
For marketers, itβs not too late to start planning a campaign for the days just before and just after Sept. 11. The day offers marketing executives a chance to sell management on a pure customer relationship building program β and none but the hardest-hearted accountant could object to it.
Regardless of the medium (traditional mail, e-mail, or a telephone call, although the latter two should probably not be done on the actual day) the tone would be, simply, "Itβs been a rough 365 days. Thanks for being with us."
No overt reference to Sept. 11. No sales pitch. No call to action. No red, white and blue icons, and no calls for anyone to bless America. Just a simple reminder that relationships between marketers and customers are valuable β and valued.
Sept. 11 offers marketers an opportunity to practice what CRM professionals have long preached: Not every contact has to be a sales call. Sometimes being thankful for β and acknowledging -- a relationship is enough.
To respond to the opinions in this column, please contact mailto:rlevey@primediabusiness.com
