Today morning, my Phone rang: “I’m calling from Honda Company, this is regarding your Honda City Car. Can I have your two minutes?”
“Yes please,” I said.
“This is regarding your Honda City year 2000 model. You have got an…”
“Wait,” I stopped the calling lady, “Which year did you say?”“The Year 2000, sir.”
“Well, I’ve had already sold that car …”“Then, which car do you own sir?”
“Honda City!”“Which car, sir?”
“Honda City. The year 2011 model.”“What’s the number of your car, sir and can I have your name and email address please?”
“You’re calling from which organization?” I asked.
“Honda Company, sir!”“I’m your existing customer, you have called me. You should have precise information about my car model, my contact details and so on when you call me, isn’t it?”
“We do not have updated data, sir. Please provide us your details so that we can update our records.”
“Then you’re not from Honda. Thanks but I’d not like to continue this call.”
And, I disconnected the call.
The call was not from Honda but from a marketing services company. They wanted to “offer” me a product or a service which was supposed to benefit them more and not me. I was not interested in participating in their “genuine looking” marketing activities.
This was exactly opposite to what is called the permission marketing.
Moral of the story: Don’t waste time in “genuine looking” marketing. It won’t lead you anywhere. Instead, do genuine marketing that is to add value in such a way that your potential customers give you a call, not you. And, certainly not like the one I received!
