Customer Dissatisfaction and How To Avoid It

I got a third-party email for a free webinar the other day. I try to support sites I like by subscribing to their partners' email distribution. This seemed like a useful webinar and it would give me an opportunity to learn about a new company.

I signed up for the webinar, filled out all kinds of information about me and my company, got a confirmation screen that my request was waiting approval from the webinar organizer. I put the webinar on my calendar, and forgot about it.

When the webinar date came, I realized that I have no way of joining because nobody responded to me. I quickly went through the registration process again with the same result - nothing happened. I received no confirmation, no message saying, "sorry, but you are not good enough for us." Nothing.

Did I not pass the screening process? Did I register too late and all spaces were filled? Was there anyone watching the subscriptions? Was there actually a webinar?

So, what's the lesson here?

Your online reputation is what you are

Respect your leads. You might be focused on your real customer, but don't forget the ones that did not make the cut. Tell them why they were not chosen and offer a consolation give-away, like a free report or ebook, a $5 gift certificate to Amazon - whatever. After all, they did waste their time filling out forms and registering. Better yet, pre-qualify your prospects in your email.

Test your process. It is very tempting to set up a webinar and never go through the actual registration to test how it is working. You have to know first hand, what the sales or lead funnel is, what a prospect have to do to give you what you want - their business. Go through the process, put your customer's shoes on and make sure you like the experience.

Don't be stingy. Look, if you are throwing a webinar, don't exclude anyone. Let anyone register and it is possible that you might get unexpected leads. If you cannot afford it, focus your offer on your target audience - your client list. Or handpick the prospects and distribute to them. Don't mass market the offer and then pick through the respondents. It does not look good for your company's online reputation.

Takeaways. Am I ever going to use this company's product? Not likely; not even if they offer to pay me. Yes, I am childish. Just because there are so many better companies out there that I am not going to bother learning the product to see if it is going to benefit me. And for sure, I remember this company's name and will tell everybody all about my experience.