Desperate measures don’t pay

The self-help industry is feeling the pain of the recession. Given the choice between paying the mortgage and paying for a self-help seminar, even the most maladjusted folks are likely to choose the former.  

Proof that times are tough for the self-helpers came in the form of a recent email campaign promoting registration for an online video relationship training seminar.   

In the third in a series of emails I received, the messaging was pretty straightforward–at least initially: A description of the seminar (intriguing enough for me to take time to read), and a call to action informing me that registration was about to close.  I was fine with this. We all have to promote our services, and sometimes the method is creating urgency in the customer’s mind. 

But this well-meaning marketer went way beyond the typical “Buy now or you’ll lose your spot.” He resorted to threats. 

Here’s the verbatim call to action:    

Now it’s time for you to make your decision.
 
And if your decision is “no, it’s not for me, because…” then that’s fine too. Just make the decision you will be happy with. 

Here comes the good part:

Registration for this course is priced at $297.  The thing is, we honestly think it’s too cheap and as a result we have been giving a lot of consideration to breaking it up into 4 parts and making each module a stand-alone class priced at $197.

Wait, it gets better: 
 
We want to be clear that were not saying that we will definitely do that, but it’s a very real possibility. So if you are thinking that you might wait and do the class at another time that is something you might want to consider. 

I mean no disrespect to this therapist turned marketer, nor do I mean to criticize the content of the seminar, which is probably valuable.  

But desperate measures to promote a product or service are a turn off.  Threats don’t work in customer relationships any more than they do in intimate relationships.  

I suspect the business owner who came up with this campaign thought this last call to action would get more people to click through and register before the price went up.  

Instead, the tone of urgency was superseded by groveling, which bordered on dishonesty.  If my reaction to this campaign is any indication of the average Joe’s, then maybe this relationship “expert” needs to learn a few guidelines for building good customer relationships.