[512 Designs]

So my wife is ready to order us hoagies for lunch today at a local pizza place we know. But before she did, I tried finding their website in case I wanted something other than of a hoagie. Sure enough, I couldn't find their website. The only things that came up was their name on some local directories.

So I'm thinking, heck....while I'm there picking up our food, maybe I'll ask them why they don't have a website and see if anything happens.

I'm now at the counter and an older Italian man hands over our hoagies. I then asked him if they have a website. He said yeah, but we just got it online a little while ago. He wasn't even sure of the website address.

I said, "Oh. ok. I was trying to find it to see what other food you have for lunch".

He said. "Well, we're on the yellow pages website where you can see our menu".

I then told him that I build websites and what he really needs is a mobile site. I started to explain what it was and does (I just said a couple of words) and then said "Here, let me show you what I mean".

I then pulled up a mobile site from one of my other customers and very quickly showed him how fast it was to navigate and also showed the "Tap to Call" feature.

I showed him the site in about 15 seconds because it was around 12:30 and they were having a busy lunch. He said, "I really like that. Can we talk about it at a different time?" I said "Sure, are you the owner?" He said, yeah and I told him that I'd call him to set up an appointment this week when it's not such a busy time.

He said "Great".

I'll be calling him tomorrow and hopefully be able to stop by around 2:00 and give him a real "presentation".

So I guess the moral to this story is "Always be selling and be prepared to show a demo at any time."

Mike

[herbaluss]

Perfect Story .... Love how you see / take advantage of business when it shows.

ummm.... Was the wife in the car waiting while you were doing all this? lol

[Mobileico]

Now that's a great story. That's the kind of information people need to hear.

[trumpador]

Great stuff Mr Couch.

Never forget ABCs of selling.

Always
Be
Closing

For a great rev up watch Alec Baldwin's scene in Glen Garry Glen Ross - it's a classic

It always made me want to be better at sales.

[JToneyUK]

This is great! I love these little stories of success but in each there are elements of luck I find! In this case you happened to be served by the owner. Still, if you take action and start doing, I guess you make your own luck!

Great stuff Mike, let us know how your follow up goes.

[512 Designs]

Ok. So I call the owner this morning and he basically said that he doesn't understand a lot about internet stuff and I should talk to his wife. He gives me her number and I called her.

She said she wants nothing to do with the internet now because she's suing her current internet hosting company. It was hard to understand what she was talking about, but here's what I got out of it.

A local web guy (or company) talked to her husband about building a website for their restaurant. He said "Sure" and signed a 5 year contract with them. I assume that included building the site and hosting.

Well, little did he know that they arleady had a website (remember he told me he doesn't understand anything about internet stuff). So his wife tried contacting them to cancel that agreement but the web guy is saying "no way".

So the web guy is charging them every month (she didn't say how much) and she now has a lawyer involved to stop it. She did say that the total amount will be in the $3000-$4000 range.

Needless to say, she's having a very bad experience right now and said that as far as she's concerned, she'll never deal with internet people again.

Oh well. I on to the next lead.

Mike

[JToneyUK]

Mike, that thing I said about luck! Man I must have jinxed you!!!

You're gonna get that situation. Not sure if it's just over here in the UK, but SEO companies or "interent people" have got a really bad repuation because of a huge number of shoddy companies who take on clients and forget about them! I used to work for one. It was horrible, constantly dealing with disgruntled clients. And for the new clients who came along, more than 50% of them said they'd already had bad experience with SEO companies. Needless to say, they were probably let down again a few months later.

[Mobileico]

Originally Posted by mrcouchpotato

Ok. So I call the owner this morning and he basically said that he doesn't understand a lot about internet stuff and I should talk to his wife. He gives me her number and I called her.

She said she wants nothing to do with the internet now because she's suing her current internet hosting company. It was hard to understand what she was talking about, but here's what I got out of it.

A local web guy (or company) talked to her husband about building a website for their restaurant. He said "Sure" and signed a 5 year contract with them. I assume that included building the site and hosting.

Well, little did he know that they arleady had a website (remember he told me he doesn't understand anything about internet stuff). So his wife tried contacting them to cancel that agreement but the web guy is saying "no way".

So the web guy is charging them every month (she didn't say how much) and she now has a lawyer involved to stop it. She did say that the total amount will be in the $3000-$4000 range.

Needless to say, she's having a very bad experience right now and said that as far as she's concerned, she'll never deal with internet people again.

Oh well. I on to the next lead.

Mike

That's heavy. I use to think that to every problem there is a solution and while I still feel that's true in many cases, this is one that is hard. When I hear the word lawyer in this care it's hard to not cringe. Mike, did you feel your guts twist when heard the "L" word? It's actually a great thing you left that scenario with your head up because remember, there is always two sides to a story. Maybe they were just delinquents and were actually counter-suing. When I hear the "L" word in these cases which I have in the same instances you are in, I just leave with a smile on my face, knowing that I just saved myself a ton of trouble, and it's not that you can't help them, it's more that they are in suing mode and you don't want to be the bulls-eye for all their rants. Some people really screw it up for the next person. sorry you had to deal with that, but keep that head up high and take care

[trumpador]

Oooh, not pleasant.

Personally, once the wife is a little more settled, I'd try again. I'd go in (via husband) and make sure all those issues from the unethical web solutions provider are addressed.

I'd draft a contract document clearly stating the opposite of all the bad things the other mob did.

It does suck when a few, who are put for a quick buck, ruin it for the rest. It's doubly painful when we ("Internet People") get tarred with the same broad brush.