Last week I was asked by a customer if I knew who invented the postal system. I said that the information was lost in the mists of time.

“Ha, ha,” said my customer. “Caught you out! I was told you knew everything!”

I pointed out that total knowledge was never a claim that I had personally made, but my client was not to be put off.

“Do you want to know?” he crowed.

I told him that I would indeed welcome enlightenment.

“Roland Hill,” he said with triumph.

And this gave me a problem. Because by chance I happen to know about Roland Hill (as you might imagine I do, given that I have worked in the direct marketing industry for 30 years). Did I tell my customer he was totally wrong, or did I save the account, and let him get away with it?

As I pondered these difficult issues, my mind swept back to the start of my interest in Roland Hill.

By chance I knew about him even when I was in primary school. Because not 200 yards from my family home in Tottenham, north London, and no more than a mile from my primary school is a road called Roland Hill – so named because the famous man lived there. Aged 10 we were taught all about him.

In fact Hill didn’t invent the postal system – there was one in the UK long before he came along. What he did was reform the system and introduce the universal tariff paid by the sender – which in turn led to the introduction of postage stamps.

Before Hill came along, letters were paid for by the recipient. But to avoid payment, many people would write something on the envelope in code, so that the recipient could see the essence of the message, and then refuse the package, and so not pay a penny.

After the lesson on Mr Hill my teacher (whose name I have now forgotten) then asked the class to evolve codes which might convey a simple message, and which were flexible.

I am not sure I enjoyed much of my primary schooling – I think I have enjoyed writing sales letters, web sites, blogs and emails more. But those lessons about Roland Hill stayed in my memory and quite possibly led me to where I am today.

Want to get in touch? Call me on 01536 399 000 or drop me an email to Tony@hamilton-house.com

And in case you are interested, I backed off and let my customer think he was right. Feeble I know, but I prefer to call it being “diplomatic”.