OT Yellow Pages Super Guarantee

[erchess]

One of the local publishers of phone books in my area is pushing what they call the Super Guarantee. Basically if a customer chooses a business that has signed up for this program and is dissatisfied they complain to the phone company which attempts to resolve the dispute. The rep who discussed the program with me did admit when pressed that the bottom line would be that a dissatisfied customer gets a refund even if I have filed their taxes or wound up their audit or done something else that benefited them and cannot be undone.

Does anyone have any experience good or bad with this or a similar plan? Does anyone have a reaction to the general idea? My own reaction has so far been negative. I don't accept credit cards because the client can "chargeback" and as I understand it I lose the money I was paid and the burden is on me to go to court if I feel I was done wrong. Maybe I am being penny wise and pound foolish......

[veritas]

don't know

About your area but here in Portland yellow pages are dead. Too many books chasing too few users.

[JohnH]

I agree with Veritas.
When's the last time you picked up the Yellow Pages?
When's the last time you think a potential client did?

[geekgirldany]

I am slowly making my ad smaller in the Yellow Pages as the years go by. I still get calls from it but a majority are price shoppers. I did get a few good clients from YP. But I have got more clients from my yard sign. Also referrals have been very good.

There are still a few that use the YP. But with more having access to the internet I think appearing on Google's Local search is about as important now.

[erchess]

My personal habits

If I decide to buy something online I either go to an online source I know or I use Google Shopping. But when I decide to buy something or use a service that's local it wouldn't cross my mind to use the internet. I think first of places I have dealt with in the past, then of whose signs I have seen and then I turn to the Yellow Pages. We needed sudden plumbing work the Thursday before Christmas and we called the guy we last used only he wasn't answering. He returned the call the Monday after Christmas and by then our prob was fixed. We turned to the YP and called around. It finally dawned on me that I have a sort of a connection to the people we ended up using. A client of mine uses them as a sub contractor and this has over the years got me to where the folks in the front office know my voice when I call. I also did their end of year payroll one year when their in house accountant was hospitalized three days before the deadline to get it in. Even with that degree of familiarity with their business I turned to the YP rather than to the internet or my relationship with them. I think though that in the future I will use this company for all my plumbing needs. They did a very good job at a fair price.

[taxxcpa]

Yellow pages

I think the "real" yellow pages are phasing out since most people now use the internet to look up companies that provide what the customer is looking for.

The phone company has not delivered me an update for the yellow pages since I moved into my present address. So my copy is several years old and many new businesses have come and many old ones have gone.

[MAJ]

YP vs Internet vs TXT Messaging

Internet all the way...
Even if I am on the road I TXT to Google for the answer.

You'll like this one. IF you text..

Text a message to 466453. That's GOOGLE on a phone dial pad.
4664553

In the Message Body type

Tax Preparation
08723

Or whatever your zip code is - Click SEND and your answer will be there in 20 seconds.

Works great for Weather, sports, business lookup, etc.
Best of All .. No internet required - Just TXT.

[taxmandan]

I don't know why some think it's Internet OR yellow pages, both continue to provide new clients to my office. Just had three new clients with tax issues call last week and all were from yellow page ad. Sure they are all over 60 yoa, and maybe the 20 somethings don't know what the yellow pages are but it still helps a large segment of the community find us. I have the Google listing as well, but it has yet to generate new business like the yp. I think the latest numbers show that only 75% of homes have internet access, so a fourth of the community isn't going to see the Google listings. They are both part of a comprehensive marketing strategy IMHO.

[Lion]

Google

I googled as you taught. I don't come up in my zip code! How do I get Google to know me?

[Davc]

Commit a felony?

[geekgirldany]

I believe you can go to Google Local at:

http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter?service=lbc&pli=1

and enter your information. You will have to select for them to call or mail to confirm the listing.

[Snaggletooth]

Internet Listings

Remember that Internet versions of Yellow Pages are selling out to big advertisers, and this is taking precedence over alphabetical listings, distance, etc. These things were once available, but people were using alpha and distance features to avoid sifting through huge ads that big companies were paying for.

Look under the category "Tax Preparation" in Ford's Crossing, North Carolina (fictional). The little town is located 40 miles from Raleigh, and has a couple good CPAs and a couple good EAs to serve the town. There is no HRB, JH, or Liberty, but several in Raleigh.

Enter a search for Ford's Crossing, and the first thing you find are 28 ads for the 28 HRB offices in Raleigh, and several other large advertisers, including WalMart who has leased space to RJ. By the time you get to the real Ford's Crossing people, you have scrolled through several pages and just give up.

Some time ago, you could sort through these by distance and find a couple good NATP or NAEA people in Ford's Crossing. The big advertisers who have paid Google big money just couldn't stand for this, so they influenced the web creators to redesign the site to pander to the big money.

I've used Tax Preparation as a hypothetical category because we all have a common interest in this. But the same would hold true if you are looking for decorative lighting. Search yellow pages for a local contractor or seller of lighting in Ford's Crossing, and you will instead find colorful ads for Lowe's and Home Depot.