If you've spent your Thursday and Friday nights shouting at the telly during The Celebrity Traitors, you'll know the whole game comes down to one question: who do you trust? Your customers ask that question every time you land in their inbox. Is this really from you? Is it worth my time? Do you actually remember who I am?
Every send is a round table, and your customers are quietly voting on whether you're a Faithful or a Traitor. The tricky part is that Traitors rarely announce themselves. In CRM, they hide in plain sight – in templates, journeys and habits that have been running on autopilot for years.
Here are the five most common traitors we see, and how to banish them before your customers do it for you.
1. The Forgetter
How to spot it: A "Hi " that never got filled in. A sign-up form asking for details the customer gave you months ago. A preference centre that's set, saved and then completely ignored.
Nothing says "I don't actually know who you are" quite like asking someone the same question twice. Personalisation isn't about showing off how much data you've got. It's about proving you listened.
How to banish it:
- Test merge tags with fallbacks on every send, not just the big ones.
- Audit your forms and journeys for data you already hold, and stop asking for it.
- Make sure preferences actually change what people receive. If someone says "monthly", don't email them weekly.
The best example of a brand that remembers? The Wrapped email. We dug into why Wrapped campaigns work so well – and why you should be planning yours now.
2. The Impostor
How to spot it: A sender name that changes from campaign to campaign. Missing or misaligned email authentication. A logo that shows up in some inboxes and not others.
If customers can't easily tell your emails apart from a fake, fraudsters will happily wear your cloak for you. Brand impersonation is big business for scammers, and it's getting more convincing as generative AI makes polished fakes cheaper to produce.
How to banish it:
- Pick one recognisable sender name and stick to it.
- Get SPF, DKIM and DMARC set up and aligned. For anyone sending at volume to Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook, this isn't optional any more.
- Once DMARC is enforced, look at BIMI so your verified logo appears in supporting inboxes.
- Keep key details, like order numbers and dates, in live text so they're consistent and easy to find. Our iOS 27 guide explains why this matters even more now Siri can search (and clear out) people's mail.
3. The Over-promiser
How to spot it: A subject line that doesn't fit with the content within your email. "You won't believe this offer" leading to 10% off. A "personalised pick" that's the same product everyone else got. Clever subject lines are great, but clever subject lines that don't deliver are how you teach people to stop opening.
How to banish it:
- Read your subject line, then your email, then your landing page. Does each one keep the promise of the last?
- Make value concrete. Show customers what an offer means for them instead of leaving them to do the maths.
- Judge success on what happens after the click, not just the open.
4. The Ghost
How to spot it: A beautiful welcome series, followed by silence. Loyal customers getting the same generic promos as people who signed up yesterday. A "we miss you" email the day after someone's bought from you.
It's easy to pour energy into acquisition and leave your most faithful customers to fend for themselves. But those are the people most likely to buy again, recommend you and stick around.
How to banish it:
- Map what happens after a purchase. If the answer is "the next promo", there's a gap.
- Recognise loyalty with something that feels earned, like early access, member perks or a simple thank you.
- Join up your channels so customers feel recognised wherever they show up. Our guide to omnichannel loyalty CRM covers how.
5. The Clinger
How to spot it: An unsubscribe link in grey 8px text, a ten step process to leave, frequency that ramps up constantly the moment someone goes quiet. Making it hard to leave doesn't make people stay. It makes them hit "report spam" instead, which does far more damage to your deliverability than a clean unsubscribe will.
How to banish it:
- Make unsubscribing easy and visible, with one-click unsubscribe in your headers.
- Offer a "less often" option alongside "unsubscribe".
- Adjust frequency based on engagement, and give quiet subscribers a genuine reason to come back (or a graceful exit).
The good news is that Faithfuls aren't picked in a turret in real life, they're made. Keep your promises, remember what customers tell you and make every message worth opening. If you'd like a second pair of eyes to help unmask the traitors in your CRM programme, get in touch with the team, we'd love to help.
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