Women Over Fifty

I’m going to grouse a bit today so I thought I’d decorate this post with roses - a bit of sweet with a bit of thorns seems appropriate.

I had my hair cut on Thursday at one of those shops that offer a pretty decent cut at a fair price and hardly any waiting.  You know the ones I mean.  My hairdresser was a beginner with some experience.  She was very professional, verifying what I asked for and cutting cautiously until she got it right.

So, what’s the problem?  If she wasn’t asking about my preferences, she was advertising the salon’s hair care products.  After 20 minutes of this I was ready to walk out.  No way would I have bought anything.  I was her captive while she cut my hair.  I tried to tune her out.

This morning I woke from a sound sleep to talk to a telemarketer from Readers Digest.  When did “NO” quit meaning no?  My RD account is messed up so I wanted to talk to her, but she wasn’t listening.  She was selling.  She kept saying the price was going up next month.  I kept telling her no and trying to talk about the problem I wanted solved.

I guess she’s the human version of a recorded computer call.  I finally just hung up on her.

My point is that advertising is about persuasion.  It’s about making your customer want your product.  It’s about gently nudging them toward your goal.

How many of us read most of the ads for Easter goodies and clothing?  A high percentage, I’m sure.  The persuasion is easy because we want to buy it.  It’s the same with the book ads for me.  I love to read and I buy an indecent number of books.  When a Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com ad comes to me  I open it and read, looking for something interesting.  In this case, the persuasion is easy.

So, where did they get the idea that pushy sales work?  I wonder what percentage of actual purchases results from telemarketing?  They must annoy a jillion people for a very few sales.  I hate telemarketing so much that I won’t listen to anyone of that sort.  I simply refuse to buy by phone.

I suspect they sell to the weak and the gullible.  That’s just wrong, in my book.  I’m on the Do Not Call list, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.  They still call.

Two or three times a week I get an alarmed voice (automated) telling me they’ve got to talk to me about my credit cards, or my auto insurance, or something else.  No way will I talk to them.

So, we pretty much have passive advertising on Today.com.  You can buy or not as you please.  That doesn’t bother me unless the advertising gets pushy with flashing lights, colors, whatever.  Those ads I wouldn’t buy from if they were selling half-price milk and eggs.

I feel better.  Thanks for putting up with me.

Marilynne

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