Are You Annoying Your Customers?
I’ve noticed a trend on the internets recently…auto play videos that you can’t stop. Every time I come to a site with an auto play video I’m shocked. What are these people thinking? Is their marketing strategy really, “hey if I annoy my customer, they’ll trust me more!” Or maybe, “if I annoy my customer, then they’ll think of me when they want to spend money!”
Who knows?
Every time I come across one of these annoying sites, I have the exact same reaction: surf to another one. There isn’t a single topic out there where I can’t find an interesting conversation on a website that respects me, the customer. If you want to blare your advertisements or put up a gigantic pop-up ad (didn’t we learn that lesson in the 90’s?!), then I have other things to do with my time.
I understand that there’s increasing tension between making money and providing content. A lot of providers think that they can slap an old advertising model on top of a new way of thinking. But it just doesn’t work. And it never will work.
I don’t know what your business is, but I can tell you one thing: there is never a good reason to annoy your customers. If they aren’t spending money the way you’d like, then maybe you aren’t offering the right services. If they don’t remember you the way you want, then maybe you aren’t offering them an experience to remember. But to think the answer is to annoy your customers? That shows a lack of business sense, common courtesy, and a complete misunderstanding of human psychology.
photo provided by flickr user rossination
[...] that packaging people wouldn’t be willing to pay the steep price for the products. If you’re rude, unfriendly, don’t go the extra mile, or aren’t willing to be a team player, then don’t [...]
[...] matter what industry you are in, you have to serve your customers. And you definitely can’t annoy your customers. Without your customers, there is no one to buy your products or services. Even if you despise [...]
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About Eric Barrett
Eric Barrett is an organizational consultant who specializes in applying psychology to communication. He has worked as an organizational psychologist for over a decade, and is most recently working on developing social media guidelines for a real estate company. He also teaches psychology at Xavier University. In his spare time he...wait, who are we kidding...he has no spare time.
He is available on a limited basis for speaking engagements and consulting projects. For more information please see the About Meaning to Work page.
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