How many customers—or potential customers—have literally asked you to talk to them, and you’ve politely decided… not to? Because you don’t want to be pushy.
That’s not good manners. It’s just bad marketing.
I was recently with a business owner sitting on a database of people who’ve asked her to get in touch. Registered their details. Opted in. Hand-raisers. And the number of those potential customers dwarfs her actual customer base.
Now, she’s a great human being—lives the brand, serves her customers, doesn’t want to bother anyone. Classic British business owner. Polite. Genuine. The opposite of every lead-gen cowboy with a mail subscription and a supposed story to tell.
But here’s the thing—I’m one of her customers. I genuinely like hearing from her. And I asked, “Do you think there might be more of me out there?” She looked nervous.
Wrong emotion.
What should make you nervous is this: If you’ve got people who’ve asked to hear from you, it’s not marketing spam. It’s a dereliction of duty not to talk to them.
And if you’re burning money on advertising while ignoring your own audience, what are you doing? That’s like standing in front of someone hanging on your every word—then looking over their shoulder to see if someone more interesting just walked into the bar.
They haven’t. They won’t.
And while you’re busy staying silent, your competitors aren’t. They’ll walk straight in, buy that customer a drink, and leave. Your customers don’t think you’re polite for staying quiet. At best, they think you don’t care. At worst, they forget you exist.
That’s not just bad business—you’re ignoring one of the key rules of marketing. You’re killing your own mental availability, the first principle of brand building. Be there, or be forgotten.
I get it. A lot of business owners think marketing is grubby. Selling’s grubby. But you know what’s grubbier? Sitting there staring at the same stagnant customer base while someone else grows—because they were in touch with their prospects.
Yes, you’ll annoy a few people. That’s marketing. Anyone genuinely pissed off was never buying from you anyway. They’ll unsubscribe. But some? Some will be delighted. Some will buy. And that’s the point.
If all of this makes you uncomfortable—good. With 50% of businesses not making it beyond the first five years it’s time to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
So, are you ready for a proper growth audit? Or are you going to stay gently polite and frustrated by a lack of growth?
