When Google Doesn't Matter

My kitchen sink clogged up today.

No problem, I thought. I'll just call a local plumber to help me out.

Hopped onto Google.

Typed in "St. Louis Plumbers."

And I was presented with several excellent options.

The first hit was a plumbing company located a few miles from my house.

Naturally, I called them first.

And nobody picked up.

So I tried the next hit on Google. Also close to my house.

And nobody picked up.

Then I scrolled over to the sponsored links. I clicked on a promising looking website description, got their phone number, called, got a voicemail, pressed extension #2 for "Bruce..."

And nobody picked up.

"Damn it! This is ridiculous!" I exclaimed.

"Screw this -- I'm calling Roto-Rooter."

I took a wild guess and typed in roto-rooter.com.

Bingo!

I called their customer service hotline. An agent picked up the call on the second ring.

Woo hoo!

"I'm sorry to hear about your kitchen, sir. We'll take care of you!" she promised.

Heck yeah!

After I gave her some basic information, she replied, "We can have someone at your home within the hour."

"Really?"

"Absolutely sir! Let me check our schedule..."

Sure enough, the plumber was over right away. He took care of my clog, told me how to prevent it in the future and even gave me a free sample of Drano!

LESSON LEARNED: any number multiplied by zero is still zero.

In other words: it doesn't matter how great your service is if nobody can get a hold of you to find out how great it is.

Sure, quality is vital, but accessibility comes first. Without it, you may as well be winking in the dark. Because if you're not Available, customers are going to find Another company to hire.

LET ME ASK YA THIS...

If nobody's there to answer your customer's phone calls, does your Google ranking even matter?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS...

For the list called, "22 Questions to Sidestep Entrepreneurial Atrophy," send an email to me, and I'll send you the list for free!

2007 All Rights Reserved.

Scott Ginsberg, aka "The Nametag Guy," is an author, speaker, award-winning blogger and entrepreneur. As the creator of NametagTV.com, he teaches people how to GET noticed, GET remembered and GET business. To rent Scott's brain, call 314/256-1800 or email scott@hellomynameisscott.com