Some Customers Look Alike

It is our custom at Kordsa to arrange a car pick-up for our clients arriving in Istanbul. Traffic is always a problem and the quality of taxis quite poor, so customers usually appreciate our gesture. It is preferable for us too, as we can be sure that our customers are being transported reliably and safely.

On one occasion we were expecting a group of three people from India. Their arrival time was early afternoon, so we had scheduled a meeting shortly after their arrival and sent a company driver to pick them up and bring them to our office. As planned, around 3pm they arrived at the office. They were new customers whom we had not met before, so we needed to exchange business cards. To our great surprise and embarrassment, we immediately realised that they were not from India but from Puerto Rico and were visiting a local pharmaceutical company. Our driver had picked up the first group he saw of three people with slightly dark skin, presuming that they were our Indian guests! When we asked him, he said that the Puerto Ricans were the only group of three people he could find that looked like Indians.

We had to arrange two drivers, one to take the Puerto Ricans to the right Turkish company and the other to rush to the airport to pick up the waiting Indian group.

Written by Vahe Hanamirian,

Former Global Accounts and Marketing Director