CIBC, etc. tries to “push” me around
Yesterday, the CIBC and an insurance company proved – over the phone – they were still engaging in “push” marketing, instead of modern web-driven “pull” style.
A representative from the bank called to ask whether I was interested in life insurance. Before being able to respond, the fellow plunged into a rapid-fire ‘pitch’ which required me to agree to have the ‘service’ placed on my Dividend credit card. Over the next 30 days, I could cancel “at any time.”
As I was in the middle of something and there was far too much to digest, I asked him to kindly mail something to me – email or an actual letter with the info. Instead, the fellow ignored my request and imposed his script on me:
“I’m authorized to give you the policy for 30 days, during which you can cancel at any time.”
My response: “Why don’t you go back to your sales trainers and ask them why addressing customer questions wasn’t covered – or have them change your script.” Then I hung up.
Insurance Day Continues
30 minutes later, the World Insurance Company(?) thoughtfully reminded me that “it was important to have enough money for my retirement and they had agents in the area today.”
Could the lady ask a favour? Before I could respond, could she know how old I was? I replied that I hadn’t given the ok for that question and that our time together had come to an end. Then I hung up.
“Push” Marketing is so Over
Also called Interruption Marketing, due to its “stop what you’re doing and listen to this (radio ads) or watch this (TV ads)” nature, this traditional sales method has been rendered obsolete by the Web which specializes in a “Pull” method.
The difference? Due to an overwhelming supply of information online (in websites, articles, landing pages, search engines, etc.) the reader’s needs are given priority because alternatives are a mouse click away.
Therefore, the marketing company must offer site visitors interesting content that ‘pulls’ you into reading more, learning more, and spending more of your precious time on their site or page.
The transition from push to pull is turning marketing departments upside down because it represents a fundamental philosophical re-thinking. The old command-control marketing model has broken down and has been replaced by a new transparency and emphasis on sharing and honesty.
Social media, for example, is all ‘pull’ and has other qualities which are confusing to traditional marketers.
However, from this time forward – actually, ‘pull’ came into vogue about 18 months ago – if companies don’t find a more engaging way to engage customers, especially potential ones, their little add-on services will be subtracted from their product mix – along with revenue.
Advice for CIBC et al
Send me an email regarding my Dividend card, direct me to a website or page, compare what you offer to other companies, list options and applications and make it relevant and interesting. And then give me several ways to contact you for more information or a confidential phone call.
That sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it?
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finally, I could find your article again. You have few useful tips for my school project. This time, I won’t forget to bookmark it.
Great, I’m glad I could help! I like your site too; it’s got some really good information. Here’s another site that may boost the grade for your project: http://www.insurancehotline.com.
Cheers,
Brian
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You have really great taste and catchy article titles. Even when you are not interested in this topic, you push to read it
I would appreciate more visual materials, to make your blog more attractive, but your writing style really compensates it. But there is always place for improvement
Hi Bruno,
Point taken – and realized! I need to get on to my hosting company as their present WordPress set-up neither allows photo-graphics or videos which severely limits my self-expression efforts. Within 2 weeks, I expect another designer to transform my site into a WordPress blog where anything will be possible.
Thanks for your input.
Brian
I like your color scheme! Where did you find it or where can I get a copy?
Hi, thanks.
The color scheme is dfBlog 1.1.5 by danielfajardo web and you can find it on WordPress.com. Let me know what your blog looks like when you’ve begun.
Brian
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You should really think about building up this site into a serious voice in this field. You obviously have a solid understanding of the areas everyone is searching for on this website anyways and you could potentially even make a buck or three from some offers. I would explore following recent headlines and increasing the volume of articles you put up and I guarantee you’d begin getting some great traffic in the near future. Just an idea, good luck in whatever you do!
Thanks, but I have so much else to do and those article take a while to write. I’ll give it further thought when the other project is up and chugging along.
Hi, got to google to your website and it displayed wierd but after refresh everything displayed fine. Just thought id let you know and keep up the good work
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Well this really is very interesting indeed.Would love to study a little more of this. Great post. Many thanks for the heads-up. This weblog was really informative and knowledgable.
Thanks Steve, Be my guest and study more about it. No doubt one of your friendly bankers will be calling you up to give you a taste of their customer service practices.