Direct Line Blog

Customer data fail

I just finished writing a really long post, complaining about a telemarketing call I got on my cell phone the other day. My main complaint was the targeting used. The call was trying to tell me that my car insurance had probably expired, but I, like many New Yorkers, do not own a car. I thought, while writing that first post, that simple geographic targeting should have weeded me out of that list based on the New York aspect alone. A slightly deeper data dig would show that I have never owned my own car, nor have I regularly driven one in a few years.

I was pretty furious that a telemarketing company would have done such a bad job at picking me out as a prospect, and then I remember one key detail: as a fairly recent transplant from my family's home in Georgia, I maintain a GA telephone number -- one that is on a joint plan under my father's name (don't judge -- it's cheaper!). People in Georgia DO own cars, many of them, and my dad is no exception.

So really, as much as I'd like to blame the marketer for annoying me with an irrelevant phone call, the entire episode is my fault for not updating my contact information to fit my lifestyle. Looks like I'll be dropping that family plan soon.
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