Why banks should stop all telemarketing in the UAE
Posted on 09 October 2011 with 1 comment from readers
‘Hello, I am calling from Citibank is it a good time to talk?’ What is this about? ‘Our new income protection plan’. Sorry not interested thank you!
No and the bank has irritated another customer again with telemarketing. Why does it do this? Why not use advertisements in newspapers and websites to win new business rather than annoy an existing client?
Illegal cold calling
Cold calling by banks in the UAE is against banking regulations though presumably calling existing clients might be a cop-out to get around this blanket ban. But does it actually do the bank much good in developing a business relationship with its customers?
For many clients it makes the bank appear a suspect pusher of financial services. What are they trying to flog now? All the banks appear to do this. Even HSBC touts its appointments with ‘relationship managers’ with aggressive telemarketing that annoys many clients.
The image of the banks has suffered around the world since the global financial crisis of three years ago, partly because they lost their clients a lot of money on investments sold for commission income, and partly because they persist in using such irritating methods as telemarketing, at least in the UAE.
Sophisticated financial markets do not allow telemarketing – and to be fair UAE bank regulations earlier this year made it illegal for cold calls from institutions that it regulates (click here). Existing good clients just do not like to be bothered like this either.
Finding a bank branch
If anybody wants to buy financial services then they know where the banks are located. If the banks want to raise awareness about a particular product then some form of advertisement in the appropriate medium will work. Sack the telemarketing staff and buy some adverts. It might be good for business.
You don’t get the sellers of XYZ shampoo ringing you up in the middle of the day asking whether you have heard about their latest offer. Samsung does not ring up TV owners to tell them about their latest Smart TV.
So why do banks do this in the UAE? Are they trying to win or lose customers?
1 Comment posted by readers:
I wish they could apply the same tenets of this article to Etisalat Peter.
I am being bombarded by calls from them to move off Al Shamil and move over to e-life.
The reason they explain, is that as this is fibre optic, then Al Shamil will not work properly.
Strange as it works perfectly today. Oh wait yes they get more money out of me when I do switch over.