Whatever happened to service?
The last time I visited a well-known pizza chain in the UK, the service quality was conspicuous by its absence. We were left alone for a long time, had to ask the waitress for drinks orders, and then we were simply ignored. We enquired, and were told that our waitress had left for the evening. When the food finally arrived, the starters we had ordered had disappeared into the unknown. The harassed manager offered to give us free desserts in compensation, but when the bill arrived, we were charged for them!
Unusually bad service. But although this might be an extreme case, poor service is not that surprising in the UK. By contrast, when I was in New York last week, I noticed how much more helpful the waiters and barmen were than their counterparts in London.
What has all this got to do with web design, you might ask? Perhaps a couple of things. First, the difference between service standards in New York and London restaurants might be that the American waitresses get paid mainly in tips. The better their service, the more they get paid. If you're on a flat (and often low) wage, there's little incentive to go the extra mile.
Here at LimeTree, we've taken this lesson to heart. We're now offering performance-based Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) contracts. Put simply, this means that you pay us by results: the better your website does in the search engine rankings, the more we earn. The result should be better for both of us - you get a far more visible site, and we are rewarded for a job well done.
The other point is that the quality of service really makes a difference. I would happily drop into those New York bars and restaurants at any time. But I really don’t feel like going back to that pizza chain anytime soon. In fact, I may never eat there again.
Lots of our clients come back to us again for more work, something we're very proud about. But we never forget that you have a choice - or that your choice comes down to the quality of service you get.
