Talk about poor business communication; is this likely to make me a customer?

I received an email today that I found quite astounding from a financial advisor at a very well known global wealth management company.  Here it is in its entirety:

“Dear Paladino,

Just a quick note to let you know that I have entered your e-mail address into my address book so that I can stay in touch with you on a frequent basis. As I periodically run across information that I feel you would be interested in, I will forward it on to you.

I hope everything is going well for you. Please feel free to contact me whenever I can be of assistance.

Sincerely,”

The name of the sender and her company shall remain nameless, not so much to protect the guilty, but because I don’t think everyone in this well respected company sends out emails like this.  First, it would be nice to be called “Ms. Paladino.”  Secondly, who gave her permission to enter my email address in her address book?  I don’t want to hear from her on a frequent basis — or at all, thank you.

This email is not only rude, it is against the law.  I guess she feels letting me know that I’m on her mailing list implies my opt-in.  I quickly scrolled to the bottom of the email after all the mandatory compliance  copy and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that I could opt out of receiving messages from her.  Bingo.  Gone.

Email is at the core of our business lives.  It is a wonderful tool to reach busy people who don’t have time to return phone calls, or are enroute to someplace.  It’s easy to shoot back a response when you’re on the road.  And there is nothing better than email in scheduling a meeting of a group of people.  I-calendars are wonderful.

But I’m also seeing more misuse of email.  The message I received from the financial advisor was certainly an egregious example.  But I’m also getting tons of emails from social media “experts” with offers of books, seminars and products.  It’s too much selling and not enough good information.

Those of us who are bloggers should also examine our motives.  Are we blogging to provide added value and information people can use?  Or are we intruding on people with messages that are totally self-serving?  Sure, we want the personal recognition.  But let’s remember to mind our manners and remember that people have invited us into their lives when they subscribe to our blogs.