You've been upgraded...May God Bless You!

The stairway to heaven can be an extremely arduous climb. I've just realized that the path from being notified to actually being upgraded needs to be traversed with measured patience and caution!

I received a call from my bank a couple of weeks back indicating that my account relationship had been upgraded. Though the voice at the other end of the phone line emerged from an obviously new executive, perhaps rushed into the nuances of relationship banking, the main benefits of an enhanced relationship appeared rather relevant.

I welcomed the call and suggested that an email outlining the benefits be sent across promptly. The rather persistent lady insisted on a meeting in person. I proceeded to politely indicate that an email followed by a telecon would serve the purpose. The young lady reluctantly agreed, and then proceeded to ask for my email id!...and I wondered...but they already have my email id...

An extremely poorly formated email did arrive on my inbox after a couple of days, and was wondering if this in fact was a genuine email. A few more weeks transpired and the gentle damsel calls once again, seeking an appointment. This meeting in person piece must be in some training manual. Politely indicated that it may not be possible and requested a few more details...and then silence prevalied yet again.

In the meanwhile, I've come across over 30 other fellow personnel, who too have received similar upgrades. I don't feel all that privileged anymore!

Its been over eight weeks now, and am yet to be upgraded at the back end or the front end. Everytime I use my debit card, I believe that I should in fact be accruing some incremental benefits that I am not privy to as I have not been upgraded yet. This is getting extremely perturbing. I have now moved from a reasonably indifferent but loyaly customer to a more involved but disillusioned client.

The upgrade journey is designed to be a joyous memorable experience, but your customer may just not reach heaven. Reference my earlier post, its all but critical that you see through the entire process and its delivery.