I am expecting “a” manager to call me back anytime now … That is, if the process works in ICICI Prudential life Insurance company. For the past several months, I have been getting these innocuous loving “service calls” from ICICI Prudential wanting to service my existing policy. When I ask them what service will they provide, they launch into their canned spiel of “you are a valued customer, our service manager will come and explain the features of the policy.., blah blah blah blasted blah”. These calls come every week and the week I lose my cool and call their bluff they skip calling me for a week. I guess, it’s their way of giving me some breathing space :). I should probably thank them and be forever indebted for that week’s respite.
Today I got a call from LIC and the lady said there was a new policy that she would like to tell me about, and I said, “no, thanks” and she said thanks and just disconnected. Excellent. I might just buy that policy because she knew when to back off and didn’t couch her sales call under the “service” cloak. Has anyone found a way to explain to companies that their customers have changed – I don’t like being lied to, I don’t have time to waste and as long as your product works fine, stay out of my hair.
The manager call is yet to come and I don’t think I will get the call next week. :):). Customer loyalty is tough – you need to have your ears glued to the ground to pick up the slight change in their tread, but Indian customer service has two challenges – the mindset that talking loudly means the person is a great communicator, two, verbal diarrhoea is equal to knowledge. But both these don’t help in customer service, they actually lead to customer disservice !!! The one thing that everyone who works with a customer needs to be trained on is “listening”. I know, that makes listening skills important to everyone :):) because all of us are customers and have customers.
Well, as expected, I didn’t get the promised call from the manager – this is a public appeal to ICICI to desist from servicing my policy. I may just stop being your customer if I get any more sales calls couched as “service” calls. You want to sell ? Make your product useful and listen to what your customer wants.
I hate to disappoint you Bindu, but LIC is second to none in customer disservice ! They missed to pay an annuity to me and even after several follow-ups they are absolutely silent about the lost money. They were probably rehearsing the cold shoulder silent treatment when they were trying to sell your policy!
You are absolutely right and am not surprised … Maybe the people they outsourced these calls to are smarter or just that lady who called could be the exception !