Forum Moderators: phranque
How many others do this, or am I just a walking mental case?
Of that month, I probably spend 90% of the time searching "webhostname sucks" and reading 20-page threads about horror stories people had with each web host. The other 10% was spent reading the copy, features, etc. on their sites.
When I had narrowed my search down to two companies, I spent two days trying to gauge what I was actually dealing with. Were these 1-man operations?
Contrary to what these hosts think, when they go out and pretend to be customers, writing unsolicited reviews on host review forums and saying things like, "Dave is a great guy, he got me set up within an hour," that is a negative in my book.
It's almost as bad when it's a legitimate review, and all the people can't stop raving about "Dave" or "Bill." I know most of these hosts aren't huge corporations, but I don't want to know that. I want to hear about their departments and staffs and other fuzzy things.
When it got down to it, I actually went with the second best host I could find. Fewer features, higher price than the other. But they had a "support department" rather than "Bill who solved our problem in 30 minutes" and they didn't have their own counter-strike game server. Anything that creates the illusion of professionalism will win my business.
Of course I'm on my 8th host now, so what do I know?
and if that person is sick, or on vacation? Who will take care of the, let's say, down site? Personally, I would NEVER host my site on a one-man-team webhost.
We have more than one email on our website: design, sales, support etc...
We've now incorporated my company (uk ltd) and will put a couple of our sites under this ltd company with in the about us section of the old sites - mysmall company is part of myltd company.
However, when customers ask I NEVER lie to them, because you can't really afford to do so - the truth always comes out.
Leo
I think faking your company site on the web is very easy as long as your website looks trustworthy. We have a professional looking site (did I just say we? :D ) with our phone number prominently displayed at the top of the page).
But when I am pushed, I am always honest and say it's just me running the company from my home. More often than not, they are more than impressed with what I have achieved on my own.
Faking staff is a bit too risky and weird, imho.
I'm not trying to fool anyone, but I think it does make a difference no matter how good of a product you sale. Even though I have been doing business for the last 5 years, it wasn’t until 2 years ago before I started buying items on line.
I think people are feeling more at ease with buying over the internet now, but I still think it helps to show different departments. Even if you don’t have but one department {You}.
The CORPORATE-SELF may be colder, than saying this site is just YOUR-self, but it is definatelly an invention that takes advantage of the frustrations associated with one-to-one relationships.
Well, at least these are my thesis - they didn´t say anything about that in college!
And besides this unconscious feeling, there also the pratical reasons: 1) There will be always someone to direct the complains about anyone - maybe someone willing to make that staff member SUFFER for what he did wrong with you as a customer. Here´s sadism, my friends. 2) The bigger a group is, the less expectable is that this company is a internet fraud.
By the way, I am building a portal wich will be held by a staff of all my ALTER-EGOS!
phoenix_fly
If you want to pretend to be a large corporation, just
provide lousy customer service :)
It's easy to bully one person, a little harder to take on a group.
if that person is sick, or on vacation? Who will take care of the, let's say, down site? Personally, I would NEVER host my site on a one-man-team webhost.
Sorry, I didn't know this discussion only applied to web hosting companies. I'm my own webmaster, and what I do is not hosting.
I do have a site with a one-man-show who's building his biz- he can't go on vacation until he can afford someone to sub for him. He won't be able to afford one without the other anyway.
Trust is the main issue for me, if it's a one man show.
The great thing about the web is that your site can make the same (or better) impression as that of a large company.
Personally, I have no problem with avoiding the "I'm a one-man band" issue in your marketing efforts; some people will see that and go no farther.
Once things get serious, though, I'm not a big fan of lying about size. Hey, if things click, you'll be in bed with the client (that's a business figure of speech, for those of you with naughty minds ;)) and any past exaggerations will be quite evident.
Having said that, I once knew a marketing firm that faked the founder rather than the staff. The actual co-founders didn't have a lot of experience, so they named the firm Clive Whitfield & Associates (not the actual name). Clive (who, of course, didn't exist) was on the road a lot, and was never available to meet with clients. By all accounts, though, he was a legendary marketer with considerable client experience and many awards. His associates always spoke well of him, his keen insights, and broad knowledge.
When the firm had built a client base and was solidly established, Clive developed a sudden, terminal illness. Eventually, death notices were sent to the trade mags, noting that Clive had passed away, but that his two long-time associates were continuing the business. True story. :)
I'm sure I’d end up with a multiple-personality disorder and sitting around talking to myself..."Um, support staff, did you respond to Bill's question yet"..."yes, admin we did"...My friends already want to commit me for talking to my computer all the time.
I’d also end up falling all over my feet when talking to customers about my "employees"...
Me: "I'll have Suzie get right on that for you."
Customer: "I thought his name was Tom"
LOL....best to be honest in all expects of life...
Except for the dreaded question, "how do I stack up against your other lovers"?
Correct answer..."You’re the best baby!"
Although I must admit to using an alias for something not related to my web site when I was still doing software engineering for 'the man' in the 9-5 world. Some rather complex tech support questions would arise that the support staff couldn't deal with from time to time so I answered them using an alias of "David". I learned a long time ago not to give customers the names of engineers [especially mine] or the ability to bypass the regular support team or they would and you never get any work done as the same people cling to you for everything for the rest of your cubicle hell existence.
When they called looking for David it was "I'm sorry, he's hearing impaired and can only respond by email" which isn't completely untrue as I have a nasty case of tinnitis and do prefer email over the phone :)
If you're being dishonest about your staff, what else are you willing to be dishonest about?
there's little or no room for total honesty in business. gerald ratner "told a joke" which was taken by the media and the public as "honesty".
his chain of jewellery stores went bust.
people now buy the same "cr*p" from other jewellers ........
how many products / services do you advertise on your site as being "below standard", "poor quality", "cr*p"?
