When we called one of the world’s leading CRM companies and asked for the marketing person named on their recent sales mailer, I got the response “who? .. there’s no one here with that name, are you sure you have called the right company?” When I responded “yes” and asked to speak to someone I knew, I was told to re-dial. When I asked nicely if I could be put through the response was “I’m not an operator!”

So much for CRM! If this is how they treat their customers I wonder how they might help other companies build relationships with customers!

The lesson is: Ensure staff who answer calls on the back of marketing campaigns know who’s who or, if you use fictitious names, everyone is aware of them!