New Ways to Say "Open Me"

The envelope was addressed to my friend, and not to me, so I did not open it. But this particular piece of mail did set me to thinking, as I stared at it there on his kitchen counter while I filled my water glass.

It looked like a piece of junk mail. It came in a standard white, bulk-mailed #10 envelope with a window for the mailing address. The return address was that of some insurance company I did not recognize. What I noticed was the note on the front of the envelope that read, "Be sure to remove your contract before discarding." The whole sentence was printed in a handwriting-style typeface, and the words "remove your contract" were in red ink.

A clever tactic, I think. "Be sure to remove your contract before discarding." Had I been the addressee, those seven extra words on the front would have persuaded me to open the envelope. Why?

(1) If it were a useless piece of junk mail, that note might have indicated that the sender included some personal information of mine in the enclosed, customized "contract," whatever that was. I should remove that sensitive information to avoid identity theft (or some other invasion of privacy that might occur if someone decided to rifle through my trash).

Had I been thinking critically, I would have realized that I need not open the envelope and remove the enclosed document; I could (and should) shred the entire piece of unopened mail to protect my information. But if I were sorting my mail as I usually do, distractedly and probably while multi-tasking, the statement on the front would have persuaded me to open the envelope before my logic kicked in. The power of persuasion, you know.

(2) If the mail were a legitimate message from a company with which I do business, the note on the envelope would have indicated that the piece included a truly important document which I needed to save. Thus the note would have helped to distinguish this piece of mail from the junk mail I received.

If you wish to use this practice in your company's mailing efforts, heed a word of caution regarding method (1). Do not enclose sensitive information about the addressee for the mere purpose of writing an envelope note that would cause the recipient to open the mail and see your advertisement. However, if you have a customized sample product which might actually appeal to the recipient, a note such as this could be a polite way to help them protect their information (and take a look at your mailing, too).

If your company needs to send important personal documents to a customer, and you want to be sure that the addressee does not mistake your mail for junk mail, printing a simple note like this one on the envelope could be a helpful signal to your recipient.