If you are a local web firm that is looking to extract the hard earned dollars from small businesses here in Perth BEWARE because the small business community is out in force! If you are searching for an honest and expert digital marketing company who will share an equally strong passion for your business, then look no further because Oracle Digital would love to speak with you about helping to grow your business online!
2. It’s about 10:30am on Tuesday morning about 2 weeks and I was warming quite nicely into
my day, when all of a sudden my phone begins to ring. I answered the phone to the mildly
abrupt and seemingly cautious voice known only as Michelle. “H h hello, is this Oracle
Digital?” she asked. Call it a sixth sense, but from this moment on i knew i was speaking to
yet another potential client who had been taken for a ride by their web firm here in Perth.
Considering that Michelle had called me it would not seem reasonable to be approaching my
questions with such caution!
Ok so enough of the suspense story, give us the heart and soul of the call/s...
I (James) did my usual soft extraction of basic information
trying to ascertain if Michelle would be worthy of asking to
complete our online pre-consultation survey, and what
she explained was a horror story that has become far too
familiar amongst incoming enquiries. Particularly those
that have previously used a web firm of many here in
Perth.
Michelle owns a small travel business in Perth’s northern
suburbs, specialising in tours mainly to the far northern
location of our beautiful state. She mentioned how money
was tight for their small business and every cent matters
when they are planning their annual budget. About 1 year
ago Michelle like many small businesses started to
become afraid by the reduced impact that her traditional
advertising was having on her business and decided to seek the advice and services of a
seemingly professional web firm in Perth.
At this point, Michelle admits that approaching Oracle Digital after seeing our business pop up
at #1 in Google for the search term “SEO Perth” was a very awkward thing to do, because she
personally and her small travel business had endured the most horrible 8 months of her
businesses life at the hands of her chosen web company in Perth. She states “I can’t believe
3. such a professional looking company on the outside could have really treated me and my
business that way, and all for no results”.
She explains that she was lured into the pretty looking packages that offered a very long list of
action items to be achieved each month, and WOW at such bargain prices only $499
per/month. It was her belief that her website would see the first page of Google search results
for up to 50 search terms and the phones would begin to ring!
Well several months passed by, and the credit card never missed a beat getting charged the
$499 monthly fee, but unfortunately the phone never began to ring!
From month to month, from consultant to incoming consultant things never ever improved.
She was promised monthly reports that came on time the first few times, until finally it was like
pulling teeth without ever receiving her reports. “How could my web firm treat me this way?”
she asked. We both eluded to the fact that she had obviously been a victim to an aggressive
sales pitch, with a firm that never intended nor believed that they would ever deliver her
results.
Michelle must have been feeling really bad about her sudden angry outburst towards her web
company because she abruptly asked if she could call me back, because she had phone lines
ringing in the background. In that moment, I thought Michelle would never call me back.
I was wrong, within about 5 minutes my phone rang again, I took a deep breath and prepared
for round 2. This time knowing that at some point during this conversation I would be trying to
reconcile the mistrust that she had formed about using a web firm in Perth to handle her
search engine marketing.
To my surprise, it was a calm and calculated Michelle this time, choosing only to ask me what
services we offered and just how much it would really cost her business?. So I went on to
explain that while we shared a few moments apart off the phone, I did some surface research
into her website and the intended market she wishes to capture online and she would be
looking realistically at a starting point of around $1100 per/month including GST for a strategy
worthy of reward.
4. In a very bitter and angry sounding tone I heard her voice for the last time say, “I have a
meeting in 5 minutes and I really must go, but thank you for your time”... the phone goes dead
before I have a chance to respond! Needless to say I have never spoken to Michelle again.
So look, you might ask me why I have such a problem dealing with enquiries like this where
people have chosen the wrong web firm for their SEO and online marketing needs of their
business?
It’s plain and simple folks. We care about the rewards, results and outcomes that are
achieved when we take on board a business into our family of clients. Myself and my old mate
Clint being the Co-Directors here at Oracle Digital feel that we have a moral obligation in our
business, to offer our clients an honest appraisal of expectations for their marketing dollars
spent with our company.
We have actually turned away many small businesses over time because we simply didn’t
believe we could make an impact on their sales.
Any web firm including Oracle Digital has and will face challenges in meeting the overall
online marketing objectives of their clients, but at a time like this we feel that the ethical thing
to do, is become more customer focused and explain the challenges transparently with your
clients. In our case, we the Directors of the company go and sit with our clients and value add
offering additional products and adjustments to their strategy until we find the winning formula.
We would never knowingly extract sums of money from businesses on a monthly basis
without at least giving them some kind of reconciliation to what we have achieved or not
achieved for that month.
Our clients can reach us on the telephone at all times, never more than a few minutes away
from a return phone call to answer their questions or concerns.
In the overall scheme of business it may only be to some a short time, but Oracle Digital
proudly boasts a 100% client retention rate because we care about the relationship we
embark on with their business.
5. We know more than any other growing web firm in Australia how demanding it can be to iron
out the wrinkles of a growing online business, but we cannot help but scream from the
rooftops when we continue to hear about stories of complete and utter contempt at the hands
of small businesses within our local market here in Perth, Western Australia.
If you are a local web firm that is looking to extract the hard earned dollars from small
businesses here in Perth BEWARE because the small business community is out in force! If
you are searching for an honest and expert digital marketing company who will share an
equally strong passion for your business, then look no further because Oracle Digital would
love to speak with you about helping to grow your business online!
