It was 11:36 in the morning and I’m in my home office studying when my phone rang.
I normally don’t answer phone calls if I’m studying but for some reason I had the urge to do it this time.
Sure enough as I suspect, it’s a cold call from a Carpet Cleaning Company based in Calgary, Alberta.
The tone of the telemarketer was friendly and he said “Hi, my name is Richard and I’m from XYZ Company. How are you today?”
And then he said that they have a promotion going on and offering me their services for $89.95.
I think the price is reasonable but as a typical consumer, I just don’t jump in and accept any offer especially from a cold call. I want to think about it first and see what their competitors have.
So I just asked him to leave his company name and telephone number.
Quickly I went to Google, and searched for their company name.
They don’t seem to have a website but I was surprised to what I’ve discovered.
They’re listed in Google Maps.
So I clicked on the link and saw 2 customer reviews. Here’s the screen shot.
So it’s a 1 star review and a 5 star review.
This tells me something, that this carpet cleaning company is not reliable. I’m not here to malign them. I’m just saying that 1 bad review weigh more than 1 positive review. It’s not 1 is to 1 ratio. Bad comments weigh more and can spread quickly than good comments.
Another thing is why they don’t have a web site? Are they hiding something? If they have a website, well it’s not available in a quick search in Google. A typical Internet user will not dig in search results. Very few people will go past the second page.
Here are some points I would like you to learn from this post.
- People will search you or your business online.
I just demonstrated to you a typical behaviour of a consumer in this new generation. And this is in every market. They will search you and see what other people have to say. Websites like www.epinions.com and www.yelp.com are some of the sites that are driven by community (Web 2.0 in action.) You should always be checking the Internet about you or your business. - Bad comment outweighs good comment by 3:1.
The basic step to defend yourself is to publish success stories or positive comments on your web site. You may also contact the person who posted bad comment and see if you can fix the issue. - Consumer has more power.
There’s a BIGGER platform now for consumer to voice out their experiences about you or your business. You can’t just say you’re the best. People will validate that through review sites, blogs, facebook, etc.
Internet is the cheapest and fastest way to get clients. But unless you use it to your advantage, your competitor will. If you can’t seem to get new clients or customers, check online if there’s something sabotaging your business.
Help your prospects to decide that you’re the right person to hire. Give them ALL reasons why and publish it online.
About Jon Orana
Hi Jon, I really like your post. I totally agree that people will search for your web presence first and foremost. Additionally, what we call online brand management is very important. One service that social media virtual assistants offer is the ability to track this for you on a daily basis to ensure that negative comments about your business are not floating around, and that positive ones are promoted. I think there might be a lot of companies out there in this situation. This particular company may or not be reliable but anyone considering to buy will definetly think twice, not something you want..
Hi Tracey.
Absolutely. Many businesses are unaware of this. Their too busy on their day to day task. When their sales drop or no one is hiring them, they have no idea what hit them.
They blame the competition, economy, and all other things.