Marketing: the italian way (most of the time)
Here some good marketing lessons from a call. The lesson is about what you should never do.
I had a call with Agos, a company that makes money lending money to people that need it.
They sent me a revolving credit card I never asked for. The APR would be 17,22%. What a great deal (for them), considering that a fair APR shoul be aroun 7% nowadays.
Anyhow, I called Agos ’cause I didn’t want the card and just to make sure what to do, as I wanted to avoid any hassle in the future.
Here the call script:
Phone ringing… 15 seconds of waiting time (good!)
Agos: “Good morning…. how can I help you?”
Me: “Good morning… I got this “Attiva Card” and I don’t want it… how can I…?”
Agos: “Just cut it with a scissor and… Hold on… My boss wants to talk to me…”
(…….the boss is more important than me… a prospect customer!…….)
Agos: “Good morning…. how can I help you?”
Me: “I was saying…”
Agos: “….yes, just cut it and send it back to us to avoid problems…”
Me: “Can you please tell me what the right postal address is? “
Agos: “It is Via B…. anyhow, didn’t you notice that the address is at the bottom of the letter?”
(… her tone is very like “are you stupid or what?”…)
Me: “….. I was not sure…” (there weren’t instructions on how to send the card back)
Agos: “did you find it?”
Me: “yes… thank you”
Like most of you, I hate to talk to call centers. they do a very tough job.
But I also know that “branding” is very much “relationship”.
I feel your brand when I touch it, when I start a relationship with your company.
Once I had a great experience talking with Ing direct. They were kind and professional. And I felt that they cared about me being a customer. I’d be please to contact them again in the future. And I don’t think I’d ever call Agos again for anything.
How these 2 example change a bottom line for a company? My take is… a lot!
Which os these company is really building a strong brand?
Investing in good relationships at any level is your best marketing investment ever.
