Peanuts, legal rottweillers and bad marketing

A far as I know, Health & Racquet Clubs don't actually exist anymore, but nonetheless, this high-handed action is not doing the fitness industry any good at all because human nature is such that when one part of an industry does something stupid, the whole industry becomes tarnished.

So, if I were the marketing director of any of the gyms and fitness centres operating in this country, right now I would get my legal rottweillers to talk harshly to their legal rottweillers to tone down these gestapo tactics for the benefit of those who are still trying to do business in this sector.

The wording used in the Health & Racquet letter was harsh to say the least:

We know all about you

Things like: "As a result of your failure to settle this account, we have undertaken an investigation into your personal financial affairs . This has revealed that you are the owner of a property. We know the market value of this property is R700 000.

"The Magistrates Court Act 32 of 1944 will enable us to sell your property by auction. To avoid the aforesaid drastic measures which may be detrimental to your lifestyle please telephone us. Failure to pay this amount by May 23 shall be regarded as a deed of insolvency."

Marketing damage

Now, maybe this person is a complete crook and has taken Health & Racquet for a ride. On the other hand there might be a legitimate reason for non-payment.

But, whatever the reason, one cannot help but wonder at the marketing damage this heavy-handed sort of approach can cause.

Quite apart from the fact that all those legal investigations into personal financial situations, sending letters and chasing people up must in all likelihood cost Health & Racquet at least R2 000, even if the customer in question is a crook, he or she will not waste any sort of opportunity to spread the word that Health & Racquet resorts to rottweiller tactics to extract money from customers.

Vicious tactics

I am not suggesting for a minute that businesses should not try and recover small amounts. What I am suggesting is that to use such patently vicious tactics does not do their image any good at all.

Part of intelligent marketing is to weigh up the PR damage that can be caused by specific actions. And if there is any chance that a letter of demand like this will cause people to start talking or worse, for the media to get hold of it, then businesses simply must put their pride in their pockets and find some better way of recovering money. Like very simply getting paid in advance. I thought that's what all gyms did, anyway.