For everyone who is sending out direct mail, have you ever accidentally sent letters to people who have called and asked off your mailing list? I recently did and it pisses people off something fierce to say the least. I haven’t checked the laws on this but I’m pretty sure it falls under similar things such as do-not-call lists. Either way it’s good etiquette to not mail to people who have asked you not to.
Because I simultaneously use and debug SI Lead Manager beta 6, I sometimes run into issues and this was one of them. The way the system is suppose to work is that when a person responds or I get a returned letter in the mail, we mark those things in the system and they should then be removed from future mailings. Apparently this has not been working correctly.
Even though I doubt we would ever get in trouble or fined, you can never be so sure. If someone out there wants to make an example out you, I could be in for a world of hurt. So from now on I’m going to double check my mailings before sending them out until I can be certain that I’ve gotten that bug squashed out of the system. I admit that, because of lack of time, I wasn’t double checking to see if any closed leads were mixed into my mailings. That has put my partner in a precarious position when these people call again to say they continue to get letters. The last person threatened to call the police.
Has anyone ever gotten in trouble for sending mail to people who asked off your mailing list?
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Comments 8
Hey Scott –
I have had that happen. Just blame it on that “darn girl in the office” and offer to take care of it personally. Problem solved. I hope you are doing well.
Sharon
Author
Since my partner is getting the call the ‘marketing assistant’ he would be blaming is ME! Never mind the fact that it is true LOL
I like Sharon’s idea. Blame it on your “marketing assistant” !
Author
It’s amazing how mad people get. I wonder if they get this furious when they unsubscribe from an email list and still get emails from the list?
Scott,
I find it’s usually not me they are mad at, I’m just the final straw for something going on in their life and they can to take it out on someone…. they don’t know. I usually just say we’ll get it fixed and apologize.
I have an archive of voicemails from angry sellers. it’s unavoidable when doing high volume mailers. i’m not sure why they get so made considering i’ve never felt the need to call up car dealerships and yell at them about mailing me. nonetheless, it does happen and it’s the price you pay to get outreach to those sellers who really need you.
“You’ve reached emergency services, what are you reporting?”
“Yes ma’am, I’m reporting a secondary unwanted yellow letter! Someone just sent me a letter offering to buy my house! You must send the police immediately!”
“Ummm …. sure, ma’am …. are you by any chance on any medication we should be aware of?”
Author
haha good stuff Josh