My inaugural post, hopefully not the last.

I work as an analyst for (currently) an insurance company. The thing about analysts is this, to be successful, you need to be critical. Being a team player means pointing out what's good and what's stupid about an idea, all the while, keeping your job.

Most times, the cynicism creeps into my personal life, and that along with a dry wit and sarcastic sense of humour means like people either absolutely love me or they don't, but there's rarely middle ground.

The concept of Anti-Marketing is to sift through the glitz and glamour of a concept and get to the root of the ask.

Working closely with marketing groups often, do you know their main mantra? "Don't try to market to yourself". This means, don't try to come up with an idea that is good enough to sell yourself, because regular people just aren't that smart.

So, if you look at ads or commercials and think they are just fluff, congrats, you could be in marketing. If you absolutely HAVE to have that product they are pushing, then, you don't belong in marketing, you belong in a marketing dream.

In Canada, they are still considering a national "DO NOT CALL" list. This list is being applauded by the public as it will reduce the # of calls while you are having dinner, in the bathroom or spending quality time with either loved ones or the television.

publicly, the "Do Not Call" list is also being sought by companies. They say they are looking forward to the list because all the people that aren't on the list WANT to hear about the weekly windows and doors deal.

The windows and door people are my favourite, because there are more companies offering this service than there are people in the world. I get about 2 calls a week just for this.

Hello?

Marcy: Hello, my name is Marcy and I am calling from Acme Windows and doors and...

Me: Wait, let me do this. You are in my area and servicing most of my neighbours (lucky them) and you want to know when it's convenient to come by and give me a no-obligation quote on new windows and doors. Of course I know that the no-obligation quote is good for six months, right?

Marcy: ahh, Yes sir, when would it be convenient to come by.

Me: Acme windows and doors, right?

Marcy: Yes, that's the companies name (not her companies name, as she works for a telemarketer)

Me: good, just wanted to write that down, for when I do need windows and doors, I will never use someone who has attempted to telemarket me.

Love the telemarketer, don't you?

In the company I work for, they script everything. There is a 180 page document on procedure which includes the script. The trouble is, customer's main problem with customer service is being too scripted, so instead of eliminating the script, they try to come up with a script that is more natural.

The reason to script is so that every customer is being treated like everyone else. Who here doesn't like that?