Mr. Marketer, Please do your homework.

Yesterday I received a call from the local branch of my bank where my account is registered. The lady on the other end of the phone stated that due to my good business :) with the bank they wanted to upgrade me to a Classic customer. She went into various benefits that this upgrade entitled me to.

She wanted to know if I am okay with the upgrade. Now who wants to refuse free stuff. I agreed to the upgrade.

She wanted to verify my contact and details. She read out my address and asked me it is still current and valid. I gave my affirmation. Next, she asked me if the mobile number registered is valid. {now, hello, you called on the number and here I am talking to you... is that not valid number... script writers ... baah}.

She asked me if I was married. Which I said I happily was. She wanted to know how many children I have. I replied I have a 5 year old kid.

Next she asked me the name of my wife and kid. Now, this pissed me off. I am supposed to be upgraded to a premium customer. I have a joint account with my wife at this bank. In the CAF, I have clearly stated that the relation with the joint holder is "wife". I also have a childrens benefit insurance policy in favour of my daughter. The CAF for this obviously have my daughter's name on it. I told the lady that she should have checked my records before calling me. She started justifying that as part of the upgrade she needed more information about me. I repeated that she should have checked my records. I told her to do her homework before calling me.

Quite often marketers just pull out names and phone numbers and generate a standard script for the call center to call. How many times have you been called by your bank or some service provider and asked for information that they should have already have had with them. It is time that marketers do their homework before making that contact to the customer.