I had a very disappointing experience with a business that uses a strong online presence to both add value to and generate leads for its offline business.  I had been using this company's website - they are a public firm that will, for now, remain nameless.  It's one of the best websites in the industry.  I will admit that I am not, currently, a customer of their offline business services.  However, I assumed the typical quid pro quo - I used their online website (which is primarily a search/index function and did not require a lot of server resources on their part) and gave them permission to market to me, which they did very extensively.

Apparently the "real people"(salespeople) monitor users of the website, and one of them contacted me to "move me along" (I suppose).  I explained I was not currently a candidate to be an immediate client and that I was working with a long time business colleague.  This salesperson took great exception to this and told me that she would disable the account so that I could go and use my colleague's website. 

I wrote her back (and her district manager) and expressed real surprise at this.  I know that I'm not the golden customer (at this time), but the very low marginal cost of "my account" compared to both the value delivered to their current customers as well as the marketing value seemed to combine to create the typical web equation.  In addition, nowhere on the website did it say (that I could find, I will keep looking), that if you didn't convert to a paying client in so much time, then your account would be disabled.  If that is the company's policy, then they should say so upfront.

It is possible that this is their unwritten policy.  It seems to me it is more likely that this is a salesperson beset by difficult times who did not understand the Brand value of the web business.  To her, it was a lead generator, and if I wasn't a hot prospect, then I had to go. 

I made mention in my email that I was sure that her CEO would have been surprised by her attitude as well.  After sending my email, I thought that I would see if I could this company's CEO in my network - just to see how hard it would be to make personal contact. 

I started first with the Stanford GSB network - a fantastic online resource that I routinely praise as a key value Stanford provides for its alumni that other schools would be smart to mimic.  However, no entries for this company turned up.  Second I went to my LinkedIn network.  Voila, on the first page, second entry, there was the CEO of the public company - 3 degrees away from me.   Then I thought I would search LinkedIn for both the company name and for Stanford - sometimes alum forget to update their current employers on the Stanford database, even if their personal info is included. 

And there I hit the jackpot.  The Vice President of Business Development, a Stanford GSB alum, right there in my LinkedIn network.  I took his name and looked it up on the Stanford database - there he was again, no company info, but a personal email and personal info. 

This employee insulted what she apparently thought was a useless Utah "window-shopper" who wasn't turning out to be an immediate revenue generating customer.  Instead, she insulted a person who was 3 degrees away from her CEO, and one degree away from a Vice President at her company.   Should I take it to the VP?  To the CEO?  Should I give them a chance to explain or fix their problem - or just put it out to the blogosphere? 

We know that most unhappy customers and potential customers don't give companies a chance to explain or fix - they just take it to the blogosphere (increasingly, the "complainosphere").  And with reason, customers want great service, they want folks who care, and someone who isn't a revenue generator today, may well be a great customer tomorrow.

Remember, remember, remember, EVERY interaction, no matter how small, may be with someone that your company needs or wants, or at least doesn't want to offend.  Every customer has the power of the web at their fingertips.  Every interaction impacts your brand!  Everyone in your team has to have Customer Respect in their DNA.  As Jim Collins reminds us, "get the right people on the bus".  This company clearly had some wrong people on the bus!!!