Note-this email was almost 44 inches long!<\/p>\n \n Since I was a paying customer, I didn\u2019t mind getting a few emails from them once in awhile.\u00a0 But, not multiple emails every week.\u00a0 Especially when I didn\u2019t ask for them to begin with.\u00a0 And, it seemed that my address was being passed around the Club.\u00a0 After a few months of this, I had enough.\u00a0 I started emailing each email sender a request to remove me from their list, since there was no way to do it in the actual emails (first strike against them).\u00a0 Many of the emails were returned that the sending email was not a valid email (second strike)!<\/p>\n Finally (at least I thought at the time), I had enough and called the club manager.\u00a0 At this point, I also cancelled my membership.\u00a0 I figured if this is how they handled their business practices, what short-cuts were they taking with the rest of the club?\u00a0 The Club Manager said she would make sure the emails were stopped.\u00a0 Were they?\u00a0 Of course not.<\/p>\n Instead, I got more emails.\u00a0 Including from other health clubs in there management group MarqueeClubGroup.com (third strike).\u00a0 That was the last straw.\u00a0 It was time to take it up a notch.\u00a0 I went ahead and contacted the spam lists and the website administrator.\u00a0 Results?\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 Emails kept coming.<\/p>\n Eventually, I get an email from the Head Golf Pro at Scioto Reserve, Chris Casto.\u00a0 My \u201cremove me now\u201d email actually got through!\u00a0 He said he\u2019 take care of it.\u00a0 After he intercedes, most of the emails stop.\u00a0 There were a few stragglers, but I sent them on to him and he gets them stopped.\u00a0 Until\u2026today.<\/p>\n Today another email arrived.\u00a0 This time from the club\u2019s management company.\u00a0 \u201cGreat\u201d, I think, \u201cit\u2019s starting all over again\u201d.<\/p>\n Here’s what I received:<\/strong><\/p>\n Since I can\u2019t get any satisfaction from this organization, I at least wanted to pass on the experience and provide a few take-aways for other businesses currently doing or contemplating email marketing:<\/p>\n 1. Let \u2018em go.<\/strong><\/p>\n Once a customer has decided to leave, ask if there\u2019s anything you can do to keep them, if not, let them go.\u00a0 Begging, pleading, and discounting might work, but not for long.\u00a0 Once the relationship sours, learn from it and do your best to make sure not to do the same things to your other customers.<\/p>\n 2. Act like a business.<\/strong><\/p>\n Email marketing may have been new 15 years ago, but it is not anymore.\u00a0 That means if you are going to do it as a business, make it worthwhile and follow the rules.\u00a0 No excuses!<\/p>\n -First, use correct list management with ways for people to subscribe and unsubscribe immediately.<\/p>\n -Second, only send to people that have given you permission to send to them.<\/p>\n -Third, use your business domain to send emails.\u00a0 Not Hotmail, AOL, or Gmail.<\/p>\n -Fourth, only send an email if you have something to say.<\/p>\n -Fifth, watch how often you send emails.\u00a0 More than one email in a day is too much.\u00a0 And, more than 2 emails in a week will probably make people mad.<\/p>\n 3. Get it together.<\/strong><\/p>\n If marketing has one message and sales another, don\u2019t send two emails in one day to the same address.\u00a0 Combine the message, schedule different times, or segment the lists.\u00a0 Just because people may be in different departments is no excuse not to get it together when it comes to marketing.<\/p>\n 4. Get professional help.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are not sure how to effectively manage an email marketing program, get professional help.\u00a0 Not only will professional help you increase your open and click-thru rates but we can decrease the number of unhappy unsubscribers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Somehow, a few years ago, the health club I used to frequent called Scioto Reserve Golf and Fitness, Powell, OH got my email address.\u00a0 Most likely from the application form. Now, I never gave them permission to email me anything other than membership info.\u00a0 However, one day I started getting \u201cWhat\u2019s New\u201d and \u201cSpecial Offers\u201d … Continue reading There Is No Excuse for a Legitimate Company to Spam<\/span> ![\"Sample](\"http:\/\/www.mymarketingguide.com\/srufo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/blog2.jpg\" "\\"Sample")
<\/a><\/a>From: Kinsale Golf And Fitness Club [mailto:gsmith@marqueeclubgroup.com]\r\nSent: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 4:50 PM\r\nTo: Rufo Samantha\r\nSubject: Kinsale Golf\/Social Test Drive<\/em><\/pre>\n
Just a Reminder:\u00a0 You have not signed up for your Kinsale Test Drive!!<\/em><\/pre>\n
What is this?<\/em>This is a way for you to Join as a Golf or Social Member with NO Initiation at Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club.\u00a0 \r\nThis is a Fantastic Opportunity that must be acted on NOW before time runs out.<\/em>Your Test Drive would start as soon as you \r\nwant but you have to get it started before September 1, 2009 to qualify.\u00a0 Your Test Drive would last for 10 months and you \r\nwould have all the benefits of your Golf or Social membership during your Test Drive.<\/em>There is only ONE Risk to you.....the \r\nrisk you will miss this opportunity if you don't act NOW.\r\nCall Membership Services at 740-881-6500 for all the details today<\/em><\/pre>\n