I had an interesting experience last week that really got me thinking about trust & integrity in business.
Let me explain. I’ve been thinking of hiring a VA (virtual assistant) for a while now, and in the last few weeks I’ve been doing a little research and started reaching out to peeps in my tribe to learn more about best practice.
After a few days, I’d finally created a shortlist. A number of independent, freelance VA’s and two larger organisations who connect you to VA’s. I started making my way through the list and going a little deeper with my research.
One organisation really stood out. Their website was super professional (what can I say, I’m a sucker for good branding!), their rates were good & it looked like the perfect solution for me.
Now, let me be super honest here. At this stage, I was pretty much sold. I’d read all their website copy, looked at their pricing model & was ready to sign up. I literally had a window open in my browser with all my credit card details filled in, ready to hit GO.
My sensible side, however, (yep, I do have one) decided to check online for reviews before saying yes. I wanted some form of social proof that their service was as awesome as they said it was. But here’s the thing… I couldn’t find anything in google for them, other than their own links.
Now I’m not being funny, but if you run a site for VA’s who are apparently trained in SEO (amongst a whole bunch of other stuff), it seems strange that your own SEO is non-existent.
This is the moment when my instincts starting questioning the integrity of the company. So I delved a bit deeper. I went to their testimonial page. There were 6 or so solid recommendations from entrepreneurs. So I googled them. Hmm…. nothing. Not a single thing online about any of these 6 people. No LinkedIn profiles, no Facebook, and absolutely nothing about the ‘businesses’ these entrepreneurs were running.
I jumped back to their site (thanking my sensible side for being a smart cookie) and hit up their live chat. I’ve posted the actual transcript from our chat so you can see exactly what happened next :
ME: How come you guys don’t seem to have any presence online? No social media, no reviews etc? Have you only just started?
THEM: We have been working directly connecting VA’s to clients prior to starting a full-scale VA services company and opening our first 2 offices. We are definitely working on getting our clients to send us reviews back and post them online. Unfortunately, it is not an overnight job
ME: Ok, so how long have you been running? I just googled each of your testimonials and nothing comes up for any of them other than your links, which really worries me
THEM: We’ve has been working with VA since 2008 with employees from Google and other big brands privately. We have opened as a company earlier this year.
ME: When was that earlier this year? And how come your testimonials don’t seem to be real people?
THEM: We offer 14-day fair use cancellation policy. So if you are not completely satisfied we will refund your money, no questions asked.
ME: Could you please just answer those last 2 questions?
THEM: January 2014
ME: Thanks, and the other question about testimonials?
THEM: They are all entrepreneurs that we have been working with for months. Most of them are StartUps and we are helping them build their businesses, which is why they don’t have much online presence.
To be honest, the trust was broken the moment they jumped in with their 14-day fair use refund. It was at that point that I lost faith in them. I felt like they were using it as a get out clause so they could ignore my question.
The crazy thing is that if they had been super honest with me right from the start, I probably would have gone with them anyway.
Here’s how that conversation could have gone….
‘We’re actually just starting out. We’re hugely passionate about the work we’re doing and love supporting entrepreneurs. In fact, you are just the kind of person we want to work with. I know we’re newbies, but we’d love to show you what an awesome job we can do for you’
In fact, they could have said that, and then told me about their refund policy and I would have signed up on the spot. Here’s the lesson: Trust & integrity are EVERYTHING in business. The moment somebody loses trust in your business, you’ve lost the sale.