ReimaginePr.com

Brand Storytelling done with purpose

You are here: Home / Blog / Less Talk More Walk

Less Talk More Walk

reimagine prSo I’m on the phone…
…and I tell the stranger at the door as much when I answer it. He says it won’t take a minute because he just wants to confirm that I got my rebate.

Like he knew I would, I say “what rebate?” and he launches into his full schpeal throwing in my neighbours name for credibility.

I’m not a customer of this company...
…but he sure made it sound like I was. And it took me a number of very pointed questions before he finally admitted that I wasn’t and this was a sales pitch.

A whole lot of us aren’t digging the tactics used by door to door salespeople according to a great report by CBC’s Marketplace.

But what has interested me every bit as much as that first encounter is how the company has handled my complaint so far.

Here is what they got right:

  • They responded

Here is what they’ve gotten wrong:

    • It took them two days to respond, by which point I was on a business trip and now pretty darned mad about the experience
    • They asked me for personal information so they could investigate the claim but never even so much as responded with a person’s name – just the company’s name
    • Their emailed response might just as well have been generated by a robot. In fact, it probably was

A little bit of digging, however…
…and I found that my experience was by no means isolated.

In fact, the BBB has given them an “F” grade and issued an alert.

And I’m certainly not the first to complain about the sales tactics used by representatives of the company, despite the PR gobblygook they sent me in their email.

PR gobblygook:
“To confirm, we look to everyone – from our employees to our independent representatives to our business partners – to consistently represent our company with professionalism, integrity and honesty. These are principles that guide our behavior in everything from sales training to our employee interactions at the door.”

We no longer live in an age when a company can do one thing but say another. Apparently, this one didn’t get the memo.

 

Susan McLennan

Susan McLennan

Founder at ReImaginePR
Susan McLennan helps brands become better storytellers both through the media and through direct and digital communications. She is an award-winning communicator with a background in television production who has secured media coverage through some of the top media outlets in the world and created content that has won hearts and changed minds locally, nationally and internationally.
Susan McLennan

@SusanMcLennan