Preferred Kashtomer ( Customer )

I go paranoid if I get a call and they tell me that I am their Preferred Customer.. I say this because of the way Preferred Customers are chased down in our system. May be I am getting the wrong side of it but read it with great sense of humor and I am sure you would enjoy this post. I am sure it is not intended to be this way but with targets and bonus tagged on , a good program can turn out to be a irritation .

I recently had to do a transaction with one of my bankers which necessitated a personal visit to the bank. That was the start point of my problem. There were plenty of guys in the lobby of the bank offering to help. As I talked about what I wanted to do, I was pulled off the area ( Where there were plenty of counters that I could have used to complete my work ) and asked to move to a different area where Preferred Customers are handled. I agreed ( with lot of hope and happiness ) , after all , I am a being viewed as a Preferred Customer .

As I went up , I was received and made to sit and wait for my Relationship person to attend to me ( now what was that ? ) .He was busy with another Preferred Customer. All this took a while . I finally met the Relationship Manager who provided me with various alternatives to a simple transaction that I wanted to complete. He was negotiating what he wanted me to do. I was firm and then my request was executed. During the conversion , my coordinates were obtained with the reason that the bank wanted to help me with the Relationship !.
If I had to just stood in the Counter Q , I would have finished my transaction and left in may be five minutes. All this Preferred Stuff took me a good thirty minutes. Relieved , I ran off the premises, thinking that the relationship was over.

Not to be.. it was just the starting point..

Soon during the day , I got calls .People wanted to see me .. Why .. because I was their Preferred Customer … and they wanted to help me with the Relationship management.

I agreed to meet one of them after I was chased – what the heck , let me check how the Relationship works and when someone calls you and tells you they will enhance your wealth , you will accept as I did .

Hindsight , I should not have agreed to the meeting .( no one can enhance your wealth other than yourself )
The meeting went great… the guys who came , had up their sleeves full of offerings.. Do I want any of them? Does not matter to them. They have a  whole range of things they want to offer you and they press hard for you to take at least one of their offerings.

Sample of the discussions that went on :
Do you have a home loan ?
"No" is my response.
We can give you one !
I responded “ not required “
Sir , we can help you identify a property and can fund you a home loan. We have our home search division for our Preferred Customers who will work with you and get you the property. He will call you and take an appointment !  Do not worry Sir , we will get our guys to get in touch with you and they will locate a fabulous property for you ! We will have the home loan sanctioned and payments can be easily made through debit to your account ! And they move on to the next offering:

Do have your life covered ? XX from our Insurance Division will make it simple for you
Next one :
Do you trade in stocks – XX will contact you
Mutual Funds – same question and response
Finally , I thought they are going to leave..

Sir – We have the best scheme for your retirement – and then there is a 45 minute yarn on the scheme.. Did I want to hear about it—they just do not care.
I listened and finally packed them off … they promised to come back next week end, for they want to keep my relationship going for I am a Preferred Customer.

I also got a call from a five star rated Hotel – Dear Mr Ramanathan , we are calling you because you are our Preferred Customer and want to improve our relationship with you… and are offering you a Exclusive Membership Card and .....

You bet , I was prepared this time to handle the ‘ Preferred kashtomer” discussion. ( they do not even check if they can talk to You. They start off as soon as you pick the call )



Incidentally , I looked for the explanation of the word preferred - preferred above all others and treated with partiality ( Sigh—I agree that I was treated that way )