I tried to refuse politely, but this person was rather persistent. I eventually told her why I was unwilling to meet with any relationship managers from banks.
Here's the thing you see. This entire relationship manager thing, while ostensibly designed to provide better service to the customer, is actually designed to push the flavour-of-the-month product that the bank is trying to hawk. A few years ago, when I was a little more naive, I had agreed once to a meeting and saved his number in my phone. But when I wanted to call to enquire about something, the number belonged to someone completely different. I guess that person had left the bank.
Last year, another person called me from my bank, again claiming to be a relationship manager, and had the gall to request that I maintain a certain balance in my Savings account with the branch on 31 March as it would help him meet his targets or incentives. Clearly this person saw the customer as a captive that existed to serve his needs.
What these people seem to miss, is that the keyword in their designation is 'relationship'. They are busy making calls and setting up meetings, racking up overheads for the bank while completely neglecting this raison-de-etre of their role. Why customers are willing to trust such a role is beyond me. But then there are enough gullible people out there. You can read about some of them
At the other end of the spectrum, my best experience with a relationship has been, believe it or not, with a car salesman. I know that 'car-salesman' is almost a dirty word, but this person changed my impression of the trade and how it could really be done.
Way back in 2003, I had bought my first Mitsubishi, a Lancer, from the Mitsubishi dealer in Pune. It was the car I have enjoyed the most, and I really should write a product review, but I digress. The purchase experience was so enjoyable, that I ended up becoming friends with the people at the dealership. The person I dealt with went on to become CEO of the dealership by the time I was shopping for another car in 2010. I had visited this dealership a few times to check out the Mitsubishi Outlander. Every single time, this CEO would escort me to his office and order the iced lemon tea that he knew I loved and we would chat about how Mitsubishi is company of great engineers and bad marketeers and how the brand deserves to do better. I would look longingly at the Outlander parked in the showroom and state wistfully that it was a little too expensive, and that I would buy it if only it were a few lakhs cheaper.
One day, as I was driving home from a client meeting, my path took me past this dealership and I decided to drop in for an iced-lemon tea. As we were chatting in his office, a truck pulled up outside to deliver a brand new Outlander to the showroom. As I watched the gleaming car being driven off the truck and into the showroom, the CEO saw the look in my eye and made me an offer I could not refuse. "Tell you what," he said. "Why don't you take this Outlander home? Drive it for a few days and then tell me if you think it is worth the price. If you still think it is not worth it, drop it back."
I stared at him for a few seconds and he probably knew he had me right there. "I might actually take you up on that offer," I said.
"You should," he grinned, "because we both know how this is going to end. "Two days later, I became the proud owner of a Mitsubishi Outlander.
This person recently moved to become the CEO of a motorcycle dealership in Pune and he called me to visit their showroom for a look-see.
That, for you, is relationship management.
No comments:
Post a Comment