A long time ago, I was briefly a district manager for a local newspaper. A district manager, at least for this paper, was the fancy name for the supervisor of all those who delivered the paper in a certain area. I wasn't very good at it, mostly because I absolutely suck eggs at math. Every Friday afternoon, myself and five other district managers would sit at a long table with dividers and calculate the business of our designated areas for the end of the week. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, balancing some sort of ledger and what not. As much as I tried to be proficient, I was always the last of the managers to leave.
The first thing I was told to do upon being hired was to fire one of my delivery persons, a man twice my age who lived in some strange-looking home along a dirt road embankment. Up until that point in my adult working life, I never had to fire anyone. The man didn't take it too kindly, both on the phone and in person, and within a matter of days many of his neighbors canceled their newspaper subscriptions. During our few conversations, the man repeatedly mentioned the name of my own supervisor's boss, the head of the circulation department. Looking back I suspect I was deliberately placed right in the middle of some private beef between this man and the circulation department head. Me, a late twentysomething lacking the gift of gab and persuasion, forced to settle some petty squabble between two adults.
That district manager position was essentially a sales position. I'm not a salesperson. Tried to be, for many years. It's just not in my blood. I'm not good at it, and don't really wish to be. I do, however, know the ropes when it comes to selling a product. I had to do it at shoe stores and book stores. I was decent at both, but not great as some of my peers were. Over time, I just became so tired of the rigmarole. Too much dealing with the naivete and absurdity of others for eight to ten hours a day.
Since I've been in the game before, maybe I can sort of understand this somewhat new approach to marketing and trying to sell stuff. And what do I know, it might not be new at all. I'm just seeing it more and more these days, thanks to round the clock media.
In the web world, pop-up ads are a very real and annoying thing. I'm not going to get into the many different pop-up styles, because they're all equally very dumb. Some are necessary, I suppose. Like that of a certain company that rhymes with cold gravy. Upon clicking through to their site, half your screen is bombarded with random "coupons" and promotion codes to save money. You certainly wouldn't be saving money had these offers never flashed across the screen. So in that sense, yes, a pop-up is necessary.
However! There are plenty more times where these pop-ups are unnecessary. And lately, I've been noticing, they're getting a bit sassy. Take for example a pop-up to a subscription service, with a savings figure of twenty percent off. In order to X out of this ad, you have to click on the line that states no thank you, I'm uninterested in saving money. Uh, what? Or another ad where the only way to get out of that screen is to click on the line no thanks, I like wasting money. Hey now! Better yet, the ads that toss subtle threats your way. Time is running out! This is your last chance. Get here or lose out at this great deal!
This sass crosses over to the world of human interaction, because we are the most spiteful, guilt-tripping species out there. There's no better place to witness this sauce than that bastion of miserable sales people, your local shopping mall. Sales people just love to amp it up a notch around the holiday shopping season, for obvious reasons. Walk by some kiosk displaying corny things of no interest to you, and you'll get the poor sap manning the booth to quip oh so I guess you're not giving presents this year huh. Sometimes they'll cut off your walking path. Holding a phone to your ear works, unless they're trying to peddle phones. Hey buddy what kinda phone you got there, c'mere let me show you somet...oh so I guess you don't want to save today. Is this really how low we've sunk? Poorly concocted guerrilla-style sales tactics? Getting pissed at simply being not interested in your product?
Incidentally, January is the best month, for two clear reasons. One, all these ads and hounding salespeople usually tone down the rhetoric some. The holidays are over, it's back to normal business hours, and relatively hassle-free shopping.
And two, it happens to be my birthday month. And more importantly, Betty White's.
The first thing I was told to do upon being hired was to fire one of my delivery persons, a man twice my age who lived in some strange-looking home along a dirt road embankment. Up until that point in my adult working life, I never had to fire anyone. The man didn't take it too kindly, both on the phone and in person, and within a matter of days many of his neighbors canceled their newspaper subscriptions. During our few conversations, the man repeatedly mentioned the name of my own supervisor's boss, the head of the circulation department. Looking back I suspect I was deliberately placed right in the middle of some private beef between this man and the circulation department head. Me, a late twentysomething lacking the gift of gab and persuasion, forced to settle some petty squabble between two adults.
That district manager position was essentially a sales position. I'm not a salesperson. Tried to be, for many years. It's just not in my blood. I'm not good at it, and don't really wish to be. I do, however, know the ropes when it comes to selling a product. I had to do it at shoe stores and book stores. I was decent at both, but not great as some of my peers were. Over time, I just became so tired of the rigmarole. Too much dealing with the naivete and absurdity of others for eight to ten hours a day.
Since I've been in the game before, maybe I can sort of understand this somewhat new approach to marketing and trying to sell stuff. And what do I know, it might not be new at all. I'm just seeing it more and more these days, thanks to round the clock media.
In the web world, pop-up ads are a very real and annoying thing. I'm not going to get into the many different pop-up styles, because they're all equally very dumb. Some are necessary, I suppose. Like that of a certain company that rhymes with cold gravy. Upon clicking through to their site, half your screen is bombarded with random "coupons" and promotion codes to save money. You certainly wouldn't be saving money had these offers never flashed across the screen. So in that sense, yes, a pop-up is necessary.
However! There are plenty more times where these pop-ups are unnecessary. And lately, I've been noticing, they're getting a bit sassy. Take for example a pop-up to a subscription service, with a savings figure of twenty percent off. In order to X out of this ad, you have to click on the line that states no thank you, I'm uninterested in saving money. Uh, what? Or another ad where the only way to get out of that screen is to click on the line no thanks, I like wasting money. Hey now! Better yet, the ads that toss subtle threats your way. Time is running out! This is your last chance. Get here or lose out at this great deal!
This sass crosses over to the world of human interaction, because we are the most spiteful, guilt-tripping species out there. There's no better place to witness this sauce than that bastion of miserable sales people, your local shopping mall. Sales people just love to amp it up a notch around the holiday shopping season, for obvious reasons. Walk by some kiosk displaying corny things of no interest to you, and you'll get the poor sap manning the booth to quip oh so I guess you're not giving presents this year huh. Sometimes they'll cut off your walking path. Holding a phone to your ear works, unless they're trying to peddle phones. Hey buddy what kinda phone you got there, c'mere let me show you somet...oh so I guess you don't want to save today. Is this really how low we've sunk? Poorly concocted guerrilla-style sales tactics? Getting pissed at simply being not interested in your product?
Incidentally, January is the best month, for two clear reasons. One, all these ads and hounding salespeople usually tone down the rhetoric some. The holidays are over, it's back to normal business hours, and relatively hassle-free shopping.
And two, it happens to be my birthday month. And more importantly, Betty White's.