What's the word Wednesday? Unsubscribe

I hear you on this one!  I once sent a (notice the word "a" meaning ONE) just-sold postcard and received a nasty phone call that they want to be taken off my list.  Jeez!  Just recycle it! 

Hi Susan. Great blog. You said: "There are days when I'd like to unsubscribe from unpleasant people." I say that I always unsubcribe unpleasant people, even before they know it.

Susan, life is too short to spend too much time on unpleasant people. 

Susan Mangigian 
We have the prospective Clients manage their own alerts on our website. In our first email after they sign-in, we explain that they control the emails that come to them.

On the occasions they forget and write to complain, I just explain again! You set them up - you can discontinue them. AND - you can start them again anytime you want!

I enjoyed your post very much.
Lynn

I can see the irritation but you were not meaning to bother her, plus she maybe was not aware of the unsubscribe. I think you handled it well.

This happens to me too.  I like the way you handled it.  

Another point to consider is the person with the contact information may not be the seller that signed up and filled in the information.  I once did a valuation and hand delivered it,  When I knocked and asked for the person listed as a contact, a person of young teenage years came to the door.

Neighbors will sometimes ask for an evaluation.  I had this happen once.  When I hand delivered the report, I encountered the son of the property owner.  The family of five was all there for the property owner's funeral and we just happened to meet in front of the house.  After some awkward moments and some explanations the family was interested to see me.  I ended up selling this condo a few years later and sold the son a home also.  You just never know.

When someone unsubscribes from my newsletter it's usually for a good reason. Over five years - that's how long I've written one of my monthly newsletters - the number of subscribers hasn't changed much; the latest count is 430 and the open rates are between 25 and 40 percent. Open rates depend on mostly two things - catchiness ofthe email subject title, and the time of year.

This is so true - people sign up for things and then complain that they're getting information. Crazy!

I think most of those emails even come with an "Unsubscribe" link.

I bought some Astros tickets for my birthday weekend.  For the past two weeks I have been inudated with emails from the Astros and mlb.com.  I have unsubscribed numerous times, but they keep coming.  I guess some sites have unsubscribe services that don't work.

Some people find it necessary to be rude instead of just unsubscribing from the service they subscribed for in the first place. Why not just click on the "Unsubscribe" button?  

It's un opt in, opt out situation, no need for unpleasantness.

If it were so easy to unsubscribe from people.... I guess ignore is best we can do!

Susan, we all get these emails, and we all can Unsubscribe and move on, no reason to be nasty.  Great post!  

Unsubscribe buttons only seem to work on the ones you don't want to unsubscribe from.

I have been there, done that too.  However, I think I know why they don't click the unsubscribe link.  There are a few "bad" unsubscribe links, where they will unsubscribe you to their e-mails, but sell your e-mail address to others, so I can understand a person not wanting to click the link.  Either way, there is no reason to send a "Nasty Gram."

This is why I don't use unsubscribe links, I use the personal touch.  At the bottom of every e-mail of this type, I state, "If you have received this e-mail in error, you are not buying a home, no longer interested in buying a home or just no longer want to receive e-mails from me, please reply to this e-mail and I will remove you from my contact list."  By doing this, I have not had a "Nasty Gram" yet.

You know sometimes when people unsubscribe it is almost a relief because I know I do not need to call them on occasion anymore with the hope of getting some business.  I will spend that time focusing on more interested prospects. 

Providing an opt-in, opt-out list is good practice.  I get many emails from spammers where I never did an opt-in, but they tell me I can unsubscribe. I never subscribed in the first place.

Another strategy I have seen is to adjust the mailing frequency. Less frequent mailings such as once a week, month or quarter may be an alternative rather than a permanent opt-out.