Permission marketing in use @ Citibank

Today I got a call from Citibank ( nothing new ), but the call started with “Hi I am XXX, I am calling from Citibank. How is the service of Citibank ?”, after I told him a couple of concerns that I had, he said “I am sorry to hear that, please call up XXXXXX (gave me a Bangalore number) and they will solve your problem immediately”. Then the sales pitch for a health insurance policy started like this “Sir we have a health policy that we have launched specially for Citibank customers …” and the pitch went on. I tried to stop him by telling him that I already have a policy from some other insurer, but as he began to explain the differences b/w my policy and what he had to offer, I kept on listening because he had listened to my problem and somehow left hope of resolving my problem.

Although with me, he couldn’t close the sales, but he sure got my attention for a while. I am sure this will help Citibank and that insurer to close more calls this way.

Nice to see someone taking a different approach than just calling up and saying “We have a policy / scheme etc. for you.” (to which my response has always been “Thanks, but sorry I am not interested”)