E-Business

This seems to be a real problem in my industry. You can only review a company if it is positive and you can’t be critical or negative in anyway to protect those in your community be it eBay, multichannel solutions or websites.

The companies I trust and value are never 100% glowing, as all companies have their problems and not all solutions work for all business models.

A few people have mentioned the ‘e-commerce boys club’ (even though no sexism was meant in this reference) of companies partnering with each other, covering each others faults and basically not giving real information to clients. Practises include cleansing out bad or even just critical reviews, convincing clients wrongly that they NEED said solution just so they can get their chunk of referral.

I hate paid referrals. It makes finding the best solution for your client about your own pocket. I avoid them where I can and only team up with partners who I like and always think of my customer first.

Happy customers who are successful make me happy. Unhappy customers constantly trying to fit a square business into a round hole makes me sad. I had enough of this torture in my previous life with another company. I hated it but then I was also being forced into an odd shape that didn’t fit.

I hope that this ‘notion’ that small businesses have about the ‘e-commerce club’ doesn’t hurt great companies and great designers who are in this industry because they love it.

I mean, e-commerce is a child only a parent can love at the best of times! It’s my addiction, my passion and my clients are continually the best in the business.

As a small (or large) business, does the effect of ‘paid referrals’ or even worse ‘paid reviews/blog posts’ worry you? Are you being hoodwinked into spending your money? Are you concerned you will face legal action if you complain about a company publicly?