She was aloof. She was afraid. Yet she was needy. She showed up at our front door with a bloated belly and a pitiful, “Meow.” This stray cat soon treated us to five little kittens born in our back yard. We cared for them from the day they were born, then found homes for all of them. except one. We kept one kitten who has grown into an very ungrateful cat.

I was the one who begged to break my husband’s long-stated “no cat” rule. yet every night, where is that cat? Right in the lap of the aforementioned cat-hating husband.

Cats are like customers. Aloof in their neediness. Ungrateful in their allegiance. Disloyal. Difficult to predict. Choosy. Particular. You know the difference between cats and dogs, don’t you? A dog thinks, “You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, and you love me. You must be God!” But a cat thinks, “You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, and you love me. I must be God!”

Ms. Jones is as self-absorbed as my cat. It’s all about her- her needs, her home, her family, her quirks, her demands. She wants to be stroked, petted, fed and loved on her terms.

Cats and customers are only out for themselves. If the focus of your message is about only you- your company, your terms, your selection, your greatness- she will sneer as she saunters off toward a warmer lap.

Does your marketing message make her purr?