Thursday, February 1  

How I Got Ripped Off...Then The Hero Saved The Day

It's funny how it all works.

I tried out Text Links Ads (a link and ad selling service) on January 9. I paid for my ads to appear in what's called the RSS feed of a blogger.

That means that when this person wrote a blog and someone looks at it via their RSS reader (like Bloglines), then my ad showed up down the bottom.

The reader hopefully clicks the link, visits my web site and buys stuff.

That's all well and good........except the blogger I picked to advertise on has not blogged once since I paid for my ads! Not once.

So my ad has never appeared.

So that's crappy. I feel ripped off. Probably because I was.


I Was Going To Have My Revenge!

As a guy who blogs a bit and write a newsletter that gets read by a few people (140,000+) I'm always looking for stuff to write about.

And I was thinking that Text Link Ads was a perfect example of a crap company just sitting there taking money under almost fraudulent conditions.

I received an invoice yesterday for my next month's ads (they must assume I'm a sucker for punishment).

I'll Pass, Thanks......I'm Better Off Investing In Enron

I cancelled my account like this:

====
From: Tailored Consulting
To: xxxxxx@text-link-ads.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 7:54 AM
Subject: Re: Brendon Re: Text Link Ads Invoice #9988

Hello xxxxxxxxxxx

Hope all is well.

I've just received an invoice for the below package I have with you guys.

I won't be renewing.

The reason I won't be renewing is because I've taken the ad in the RSS of http://xxxxxxxxx and they haven't blogged since December 21.

So I assume my ad has never actually been shown.

Could you please cancel my account once it expires on the 9th.

Thanks xxxxxxxx.

Regards

Brendon Sinclair
====

See how nice I am?!

I figured it was only $45 US and that was a cheap lesson on who not to do business with.

The response to that was not "Oh goodness, that's terrible. Let's fix that." The response was:

====

----- Original Message -----
From: xxxxxxxxxxxx
To: 'Tailored Consulting'
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 2:30 AM
Subject: RE: Brendon Re: Text Link Ads Invoice #9988

Yes, we can do that for you.

Thanks for your business and please let me know if I can help you with anything in the future, have a great day,

====

That's Customer Service speak for:

----- Original Message -----
From: xxxxxxxxxxxx
To: 'Tailored Consulting'
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 2:30 AM
Subject: Thanks Sucker!!

Thanks for your money sucker!!

If you want be be ripped off again we're happy to take your hard earned money ......if you're that stupid! (And we think you are.)

====

Now Bloody Patrick Has Ruined My Horror Story!

Unfortunately for me, and my nasty side, there is one- (1) smart guy at Text Link Ads (TLA). That's the President Patrick Gavin.

Now Patrick is smart because he realises who pays the bills. He is smart because he keeps his finger on the pulse in terms of what's happening with his customers.

• He knows (probably) the lifetime value of a customer.
• He knows the importance of brand reputation.
• He knows he really, really needs to know why customers cancel.

So, I assume as a matter of course, he sends an email (like the one below I received) to all cancelling customers:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Gavin - Text Link Ads"
To: "Brendon Sinclair"
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 4:35 AM
Subject: Attn: Brendon Re: Your TLA Experience

Brendon, I'm sorry to see you cancelled an ad with us.

Could you please take a minute and let me know if there was anything we could have done better to improve your experience with Text Link Ads?

Thanks again for your business.

====


And Our Hero Saves The Day

Lesson: always, always, always ask why people cancel.

You, as the Business Owner, care more than your Customer Service staff. Your customer service staff don't care. At all.

They say they do. But they don't.

And they don't care because they still get paid.

Patrick cares because he's trying to build a business, he's trying to build something of value, he's trying to make a buck so he can pay his bills and hopefully have a little left over at the end.

Anyhoo, I sent the same email (above) to Patrick as I sent the Account Manager, but with this note.

-----Original Message-----
From: Tailored Consulting [mailto:brendon@tailored.com.au]
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 4:01 PM
To: Patrick Gavin - Text Link Ads
Subject: Re: Brendon Re: Your TLA Experience

Howdy Patrick

Yep, the reason I'm cancelling is pretty easy.

I paid for ads in the RSS feeds of http://xxxxxxxxxx.

They haven't blogged since Dec 21 last year.

From that I assume my ad has never been shown.

Below you'll see my correspondence with xxxxxxxx, my Account Manager.

====

Patrick's response was a little different to the Account Manager. Within about 60 seconds I received this:

"Brendon, I will make sure you get refunded for this, sorry about that!"

16 minutes later I got the email to the right - it's the refund through PayPal.


Your Online Reputation Is So Fragile

4 things have happened here:

1. TLA have done the right thing and offered a full refund. No fuss on my part (I didn't even ask).

2. TLA have stopped me bad mouthing them in every publication I write in - their reputation would have been damaged a bit, all for of a lousy $45.

3. TLA have picked up another sale - because I now perceive Text Link Ads as a half decent business that will do the right thing should things go wrong, I have tried again with a different blogger (the sale: $250 US).

4. TLA get a very positive review (that's this one you're reading) - there's nothing more powerful than a story like this one.

• Business gives crap value
• Business was going to take the money and run
• Business owner goes "Doh! That's not right - we need to fix that!"

Because now you, like me, probably have this view of TLA:

Whilst their processes aren't perfect (it must be hard to make sure those who sign up as a publisher actually publish), if you don't get good value then they'll make sure you're looked after.


Simply Reduce Perceived Risk

And that reduces the perceived risk in dealing with them. Perceived risk is the biggest barrier to buying anything.

Customers who have a bad experience and are taken care of are more likely to rebuy from you and more likely to recommend you to others. Exactly like I have just done.

Because now you know that if you're looking to buy text ads or take Feedvertising, then Text Link Ads are trustworthy to deal with and worth a try.

The web, especially bloggers, can have a very significant impact on your business these days.

Look at Text Link Ads. For a lousy $45 they would have been bad-mouthed to 150,000+ people.

Instead, because of the brilliant intercept of Patrick, they get a positive spin on their business and service.

That helps their brand, that helps their profit and that builds value so that Patrick can sell his business for $25 million next year and retire to an island drinking Pina Coladas and watching reruns of Gilligan's Island.

Cheers

Brendon

Labels: web marketing