Everything you need for the perfect shave - and it’s only three ($) bucks.

I acted on one of those funny direct mail pieces the other day.

You know, the ones that come in Val-pak and a host of other low cost flyers.

This one was from Harry’s, the folks that offer a subscription to razors, and a variety of other grooming essentials.

On the way to checking out on their web site, I took them up on their offer to sign up for SMS messaging. I gave them my phone number and said yes to automated SMS messages….

What I didn’t say yes to was, an early morning text, the very next day at 7:00am…

So I immediately unsubscribed!

So what gives? Why the change of mind?

Well, when I signed up, they gave me about three weeks before they would charge my card for the first refill. That’s good, I get their freeby in about a weeks time, have two weeks to decide if I like it and then they ship the first refill and charge me for the order. Great, I’m good with that. I was looking forward to the trial… and less than 24 hours later, early in the morning they asked me to buy a new handle.

Wait! I haven’t received the trial set yet, haven’t held the Harry’s razor in my hand… I don’t know if I like the first handle yet, or the blade so why would I want to buy a new handle already?

Nope! Unsubscribed! That was a nice thought on their part, but no thanks. Harry, you’re way ahead of my decision curve after you set the expectation for a trial and then a potential buy with plenty of time to make that decision.

As an old-school direct marketer, I get it - or at least I think I do. Recency is a pretty strong indicator of your customer’s willingness to make that next purchase. And I’m guessing that has panned out for Harry - just not in this instance with me.