Going Too Far

(Automation and Marketing Out of Control)

1.        Does everyone know that the date you place on a check does not mean anything anymore????… Can they cash it before the date?… Unfortunately the answer is “Yes”.  The counter position to this is that if the check if attempted to be processed at a local teller window, it may be rejected if the date is prior, however, for all those checks you mail out, this is not the case… Don’t believe me? – Check it out for yourself… if not I’ll refer you to several sources that will verify this…. Incidentally, twenty (20) years ago this was not the case.

Background:  My wife-partner, 20 years ago was in the Banking industry, performing the function of a floater/specialist, which meant essentially that she was required to know how to fill in for various roles…  from teller, to the drive-up (limited teller functions), to filling in as a service support rep (understanding all the basics from opening up an account… to features and pitfalls associated with the bank’s various lines of products and services including investments and planning).   In those days, the regulations and obligations were quite clear between bank services and the customer.  As she recalls, there were several cases where a teller was threatened with termination due to the fact that they had let a check “slip though” to be cashed in advance of the date on the check.  The grievance was based on the interest lost to the customer for the check amount – between the times it was cashed and the time it was supposed to be cashed.  While small in amount normally, it was the principle of the issue and the overall cumulative effect to the customer(s) (imagine a simplified example of $100,000 at 5% cashed 1 week in advance would equal at minimum ~$100 lost in interest).

2.        Opt-Out vs. Opt-in

Our rights as individuals are being taken away slowly… everyone please wake up!  I’m sure most everyone is aware that a limited number of institutions (banks, credit card companies, etc.) have been made very visible – when it was found out that they have been making money selling our ‘private’ information to advertising-based companies.  As a result of consumer pressures, many companies moving into this “new revenue channel”, have cleverly changed their new “signup policies” to include Opt-in  procedures whereby they ask you what you may be interested in (almost like a survey), and get you to agree to allow those companies with products and services for which you expressed interest in – to market to you.  This is called “Opt-In”, namely that you opted to allow it to happen and shame on you if you thought it was a survey.

Recently the fundamental position has begun to change.  In reading what sounded like a public announcement of disclosure, I found out that my auto insurance company had sent me an “Opt-Out” notice whereby they were telling me as the consumer that they plan on making my private information public (flavoring the message to sound like this disclosure was for the public good), and allowing me to stop this action, by sending in an “Opt-Out”, form.  This disturbed me for two reasons:

a.        Similar to those companies who send you a special offer, with a series of follow up offers, assuming that because you did not openly reject the follow up, you must have wanted the product.  Many consumers actually do not want the follow up product, but marketing knows that many will also not bother to read the follow up notices, and inadvertently accept the follow up products, because they did not bother to openly reject it/them.

Doesn’t this “feel” like our rights of privacy are being taken away?  I personally judge many issues similar to way the law is supposed to protect the rights of the individual – i.e. innocent until proven guilty.  But in this case, it reads – your rights of privacy are being taken away unless you complain about it.

b.       As one of the more of less silent individuals who helped to found the direct response marketing industry, I feel responsible when it starts to get out of hand.    Back in the mid to late ‘80’s, I started a company  (and developed for other employers as a service) which successfully penetrated new markets by issuing a selective series of customized contiguous messages over a short duration – based on the known observation that over 75% of the response for a mailer, be it new promotion, or follow up to a magazine opt-in, is not achieved until the prospect has received at least three (3) follow ups (and now you know why a marketing campaigns which issue a broad single message fail with an average of only ¾ of 1% return – for every 1000 mailers, only seven (7) on the average are returned). 

The difference between then and now was that the automated side of promoting products and services was also personalized to respond in a responsible and custom manner for each and every prospect.   Back then, we considered different follow up patterns based on customer response including if they didn’t respond at all – which may have meant they were put in a “holding pattern” and re-contacted a year later (when perhaps their profile and needs may have changed), but in no case did we ever “assume” that their silence meant they wanted to buy.

While I do love my auto insurance provider, and think they are very “Progressive”, anyone with a Progressive policy who does not want certain private information disclosed, need to write to them soon.

3.        More to come…