emergency signage

The Problem Might Not Be What You Think

22 April 2010

Today is the second day of some lessons email marketers can apply from learning basic emergency medicine. Today’s lesson deals with squeaky wheels, grease, and problem diagnosis.

My sister-in-law is a nurse. She spent several years as an ER nurse and sometimes participates in emergency preparedness drills at our local hospital. Once, a few years ago, she was participating in such a drill and was assigned to play the part of someone with a broken arm.

If you’ve ever broken your arm, you know it hurts. So, she got into the role and screamed. A lot. And loudly. Very loudly, in fact. So much so that the staff of the hospital treated her before they treated some of the other cases in the ER who were presenting with far more serious, life-threatening issues. The squeaky wheel got the grease, but four of their other “patients” died while they were greasing the squeaky wheel.

Read moreThe Spock Trap

That lesson was driven home again last week as I finished my emergency responder course. Sometimes, the patient will complain loudly and long about something, but something else is the far more serious issue.

For instance, let’s say that Joe is working in his shop with an acetylene torch and ends up burning his arm. Now, acetylene burns hot (Wikipedia tells me more than 3600 K (3300 °C, 6000 °F) Wikipedia contributors, ​Acetylene​, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (2010), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Acetylene&oldid=356234240#Welding (last visited Apr 22, 2010).), so that’s pretty much an instant third-degree burn. And Joe is shocked by what happens, so he drops his torch and knocks over the tanks, which break his leg.

When the first responder arrives, what condition do you think Joe will complain about the most?

Read moreBad Advice

If you guessed the broken leg, then you’re probably right. A third-degree burn will generally sear the nerve endings. So, while Joe may think it looks ugly, he’s more concerned about the excruciating pain in his leg.

When the first responder arrives, which condition will get treated first?

If you guessed the burn, then you would be correct. That third-degree burn is life-threatening, whereas the broken leg is really painful but contained.

So, while Joe is complaining of one thing, there is a far worse problem that needs attending to first. That doesn’t mean that the leg should not be treated; it just shouldn’t be first on the priority list.

So, what does this have to do with email marketing?

The same principles apply there, too. Sometimes, we treat the squeaky wheel without dealing with the more serious problems.

For instance, mail is sent to the bulk folder at AOL and Yahoo. What is the solution? Many people consider that it is to get feedback loops and remove the people complaining.

That is a good thing to do. But, the far more serious problem is underlying and must be fixed. Consider these other problems that need to be examined in such a context:

  1. How was permission gained? Was it taken or freely offered?
  2. Did the recipient know what to expect when they signed up for this list?
  3. Are the recipients suffering from list fatigue and want to receive something less often?
  4. Has the content of the mailings recently changed so that it’s now more marketing and less of what they cared about when they signed up?

All of these problems need to be examined. They are third-degree burns that need to be treated. And, even better, once they are treated, the problems of bulk foldering and blocking tend to take care of themselves in short order.

Mickey Chandler
Latest posts by Mickey Chandler (see all)