Those of you who have been part of my online family for a while know about my mom, an expert in direct response marketing (and the concepts covered in my book, Overdeliver).
However, her expertise was instinctive, rather than learning anything from me. ☹
She always said, “I need to get back to your book someday, Brian.”
Regardless, her marketing skills were excellent.
Her birthday became a virtual holiday after the release of Star Wars (you know, “May The Fourth Be With You” …from a galaxy far, far away).
A few weeks after her birthday in 2022, she passed away, after a life well lived.
Today is May 4th, 2025, a perfect day to reintroduce you to my mom.
Consider this a refresher course on what she taught me (and us) about marketing…life…and by being a constructive irritant for 97 years (and I say that with extreme love and devotion). 😊
I find it remarkable that despite only reading the first chapter of my book (or so she said) and admitting that she “needed to get back to it,” her expertise in many of the principles expressed in Overdeliver, including creating irresistible offers, being multi-channel and making exquisite customer service the cornerstone of her marketing education, is uncanny.
While she never became an expert in RFM…and she had no need to understand the “41/39/20 rule” …she was an absolute expert in three areas covered in my book:
- Telemarketing
- Direct mail
- Lifetime value
1. Mom on telemarketing
To my mom, if it’s not a phone communication (or an in-person visit), it doesn’t count.
Email? That’s for the “new generation.”
Although if she was on email, she would have heard from me more often, that’s for sure.
Forget about texting…she’d have to give up her flip phone for that, so I never mentioned texting is a “thing.”
My mom with a smartphone would have started a chain reaction of events (beginning with hundreds of calls to Verizon customer service) that would have changed the world of mobile communications forever…and not for the better. 🙂
And where the Internet was concerned, that was simply a place where she could browse for latex gloves, research contraptions that can reach and grasp items on high shelves and shop for her favorite skin cream (not available in stores)—and call me to have her buy them for her at the “store” called Amazon.
Funny story: For Mother’s Day a few years before she passed away, I bought her an Amazon gift card at CVS, put $0 on it, and told her there was a special number on the card that only worked if she called me with the items she desired…which I could then order for her.
She asked me until the day she died:
“How much money is left on the card?”
And my answer was always the same:
“A lot.”
That kept her ordering, one item at a time, average order $14, without disrupting the natural order of the World Wide Web.
Back to mom on telemarketing—her favorite direct response medium.
She was ahead of the curve in the 2020’s since it’s become a forgotten medium to many marketing mavens.
Most of us are attached to our smart phones all day long but we rarely see it or use it as a “phone” or a sales medium (as opposed to being a vehicle to post vacation pictures, photos of our latest meal, or to participate in a political rant).
Well, it works well for TikTok influencers and Instagram “videographers” for sure…but that went beyond my mom’s paygrade. 🙂
Despite laying on the guilt regarding how infrequently I called her with “inbound” telemarketing, her “outbound” operation was quite extensive.
Sort of like a boiler room from her kitchen.
When she bought a can of tomatoes that were past their expiration date, rather than simply return the can to Shop-Rite, her first move was to call the CEO of Del-Monte.
She’s had the time and the patience to sit on hold for days so why not?
And every time I saw her, she always had a story about how she got “satisfaction,” calling anyone who will listen, at any company or store who had stepped out of line (in her opinion), responding to her tales of woe.
She was relentless and wouldn’t stop until her demands were met.
I believe this was also a reason for her longevity too. Being active and productive (creating purpose, however one defines it), comes in many flavors…and it beats sitting around doing nothing.
Does this sound like any of your customers?
Hopefully my mom was one of your customers…because she forced you to pay more attention to your business…and she will reappear in other customers to insure you continue to toe the line.
And create lifetime customers in the process.
Read “The return on returns” for a deep dive on this topic…but if you’ve been part of my online family for any length of time, you’ve already been drilled about customer service being a marketing function.
When she told me about her adventures in telemarketing, I pictured her talking the ear off of the person on the other end, for an hour or more, about the new step stool she bought that’s missing a screw…maybe even accusing that person of missing a screw as well…and how they better satisfy her…or else.
Never raising her voice…just giving the “facts” …and she was compelling and polite.
She’s no different from any other customer on your list…no matter how old or how young.
Note that I affectionately called my mom’s practice “outbound telemarketing” rather than “complaining.”
In fact, I dedicated an entire chapter to this topic (that’s customer service and fulfillment, not complaining) in my book, Overdeliver.
It’s based on the premise that it may take a lifetime to win (and keep) a customer, but you can lose that customer in a heartbeat (with one misstep).
My mother taught this to anyone who would listen…and turned it into maximum lifetime value…more on that in a minute.
This is what links new customer acquisition to customer retention and/or renewals.
Always focus your customer acquisition effort with the second order in mind…
…and…
…it is easier to keep a customer than to get a new one.
Of course, be ready to answer the phone when your new or existing customers call and need something more.
I only wish my mom could still call me to complain…er…practice outbound telemarketing. ☹
2. Mom on direct mail
My Mom might have been the most loyal and trusting (euphemism for gullible) person you will ever mail to…and the perfect person to have on your postal list.
She must give money to Paralyzed American Veterans because they sent her free return address labels.
And the free calendar from U.N.I.C.E.F.?
That deserved a bonus contribution.
If you practice the art and science of direct mail and wanted her to buy, donate or do anything with you, it will cost you in freebies and bonuses–but if you do this, you will reap the benefits of her generosity as a result of her need to reciprocate.
My mom took ethical bribes very seriously.
As do all customers and prospects.
And smart marketers too.
For her outgoing direct mail operation (a different way to say “mailing her bills and birthday cards”), how’s this for a philosophy:
She only used the prettiest postage stamps I could find at the post office for her, which she then used for all her outgoing mail…because she thought the electric company and cable TV provider would be kinder to her if she sent her payments with a beautifully stamped envelope.
And for the birthday cards she sent to her grandchildren, she thought it was the stamp that made them giddy.
But we know it was the check inside. 🙂
My favorite stamps, “The T.rex collection,” were off limits…which I guess is understandable.
They are soooo scary!
Regardless, I always had her back on the power of direct mail…stamped appropriately of course.
3. Mom on lifetime value
This one was part of her DNA…and here’s a story to illustrate my mom’s understanding of the most important concept in direct marketing.
In 2016, she fell and broke her hip. We rushed her to the hospital for emergency surgery and eventually all was well (and giving you the gory details would be TMI).
When I got home from the hospital, there were four messages on my answering machine—from Shirley, Rita, Thelma and Eleanor.
These ladies were all 91 at the time, all “with it” (despite some aches and pains), and they all wanted to know the status of Terry (my mom).
I had lengthy conversations with each of the four other “Sistas” (as I like to call them).
These five women had known each other, as close friends, for over 80 years.
That’s a brand of “lifetime value” that goes beyond anything I am familiar with…and it’s not covered in my book.
Except when I open Chapter 10 with the quote, “Life is long.”
Their friendship was a one-time sale that lasted a lifetime…no funnel or upsells needed.
Here they are in their prime…that’s my mom on the far left:
They all outlived their husbands, all lived into their late 90’s…and one (Thelma, second from the right) is now 100.
So now you know why my mom was an awesome direct marketer…and why, three years after her passing, and on her birthday, May 4th, I needed to remind you (and me) what life (and marketing) is all about.
“May The Fourth Be With You!”
And may it be with you the other 364 days during the year…as you practice the art of multi-channel direct response marketing (including telemarketing and direct mail) …and become even more diversified than my mom.
And may you experience a lifetime of value (which has little to do with the value of an average order).
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. Since my mom never read Overdeliver, you can be sure she never read Breakthrough Advertising.
However, miraculously, she applied principles from Gene Schwartz’s masterpiece in her marketing efforts as well.
I don’t know how she did it…without reading the book OR attending The Breakthrough Advertising Bootcamp. 😊
And even if you have some of my mom’s keen marketing instincts, attending the Bootcamp will give you an unfair advantage no matter what your business is—direct-to-consumer, business-to-business, product or service, online or offline, digital or brick-and-mortar.
Human behavior hasn’t changed since Gene Schwartz penned Breakthrough Advertising in 1966 (and, as I say in the afterword of the book, it hasn’t changed since 1066 either) …and you can be part of this deep dive into this miracle of a book, applying it to your specific business, category or niche, by clicking here.
It’s six, 90-minute calls over a two-week period (all recorded, and then part of your marketing library forever) …with expert teaching from me and my marketing partner Chris Mason…including some guest speakers…along with interactive discussions, hot seats, office hours…dedicated to actionable results inside your business.
With exercises (yes, there is homework) that will help you create a business that you love.
There is a private Facebook Group too…for exchanging information and ideas from the Bootcamp…or questions about direct response marketing or copywriting…you can ask us, or the group, anything.
We are here for you…as are your fellow Bootcampers.
There is also an offer on this page to buy a copy of Breakthrough Advertising at a 20% discount with your Bootcamp registration.
I hope you will join us.
It begins this Tuesday May 6th (that’s two days after the “Fourth Is With You”) …but the force will always be with you once you attend the Breakthrough Advertising Bootcamp.
Click here for all the details including the schedule…and to register.
There is even a bonus “7th call”:
A behind the scenes look at Titans Xcelerator (free access to one of our exclusive mastermind calls) …with speakers from the bleeding edge of A.I….and two O.G. copywriters who follow the teachings of Gene Schwartz.
In fact, the A.I. experts follow Gene too.
Funny how that happens with timeless, eternal truths. 😊
You’ll need to click here to read where I name the names of those exquisite speakers…