DELETE! Yep, that’s one of the great things I love teaching my email struggling clients about. But not just delete that particular email, delete yourself from the mailing list. Talk about freedom! Of course in case you’re wondering, no, I don’t think it’s that great of an idea to actually delete yourself from mail you receive from your boss or your difficult clients. Just
so we’re clear.
I just spent a few minutes this morning in what I share with my clients as part of email maintenance. A monthly (or more frequently if you need it) ritual of deleting yourself from email lists that you no longer need to be a part of. Maybe it made sense once upon a time. Or maybe when you placed an order on their website you didn’t realize the box was already checked for you to receive their abundance of emails. The reason you’re on their list is really no concern at this point. Just know that it’s up to you to clean up that inbox. Sure, you can delete the emails (into the trash) forever, but why not just take an extra step and never have to even think about their email again?
I always learn something when removing myself from an email list.
I realize:
1. They don’t want me to remove myself, therefore they make me work for it by recalling all the information I gave you to sign up in the first place, thus frustrating me even more.
2. They have me uncheck all (10) different ways they have been reaching out to me before I can click on “unsubscribe.”
3. There are some that make it as simple as a click of a button and confirmation of my email, and I thank them for that.
When doing a little monthly email maintenance today I came across a really great marketing technique that I hadn’t seen (in this format) before when I was going to remove myself from the L.L. Bean emails. Love their products, but I don’t order often enough to be receiving an email once a week about sales. That said, I went to unsubscribe and they gave me some options I hadn’t seen before:
1. Receive email on a weekly basis
2. Receive email on twice a month
3. Receive email monthly
4. No preference
My current selection (because I had never really made one) was on “No preference.” As I mentioned, I do like their products, and I would like to hear from them now and again, so I opted for their monthly communication instead of what I was currently getting, which was at least once a week, and too much for me. Having these kinds of options gave me the feeling that I’ve had about L.L. Bean for the past 20+ years (since I got my first backpack with them), they actually care about their customers, and their customers needs. Sure, this may be their way of keeping me on their list, but it worked didn’t it?
This got me thinking, what if I offered these types of options to my own clients? Would they respond in the same way I did, with a, “Sure, I want to hear from you, maybe not all the time, but I don’t want to lose contact.” Or maybe, “I want to hear from you more often. I need to be motivated.”
What would your clients say?
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