Wussy CEOs hide on their own Web sites
Josh and I just spent the better part of two days finding e-mail contacts for the products that were nominated for the Webware 100 awards. Many nominations came from people not affiliated with the companies that made these products. Fans, in other words.
To these fans, I say, thanks for taking the time to nominate the products you like. But to nearly all companies that have the fans, I blow loud and wet raspberries in your general direction. Do you have any idea how freaking hard it was to find contact information for you?
In far too many cases, there was no e-mail address on company Web sites. Several companies did offer e-mail forms, which is a half-measure. But what's so bad about listing an e-mail address for a CEO? Spam stopped being a problem about two years ago. And, Mr. or Ms. CEO, if you can't figure out how to use one of the good off-the-shelf antispam products out there, at least make sure one of your PR lackeys has their e-mail address (a real address, not an "info@company.com" cop-out) posted on the site. You're paying them to be in touch, right?
Of the companies that I checked, only one (Fotki) actually had a linked e-mail for the CEO on the site. A few others--I could count them on my fingers--had e-mails, but unlinked, in the old-school antispam way: "My e-mail is Joe-the-CEO at companyname dot com."
Dear people who want to strike it rich on the Internets: get a clue. Business is personal. And if you actually want to do some business, maybe you should make it just a little bit easier for your customers (and journalists) to communicate with you.
Yours sincerely,
- rafe@cnet.com
P.S.: I know Webware's "about" page doesn't have e-mails listed on it. That will change.
Voting on the Webware 100 will start at noon Pacific Time on Wednesday, May 23.
Rafe Needleman writes about start-ups, new technologies, and Web 2.0 products, as editor of CNET's Webware. E-mail Rafe.
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A CEO's job is to run the company, not to deal with random inquiries (and clean out hundreds of pieces of spam from their inbox) every day.
When I had issues (not of their making) signing up for Backpack (37 Signals, I gave them a call and who picked up the phone, Jason Fried.
So if Jason can do it so should they.
Serge
Blog:
http://www.sergetheconcierge.com
I'm not saying that sites shouldn't have forms and generic dropboxes. I'm just saying that if a potential customer or partner wants to talk to a PERSON at a company, the company should provide the option.
Too-busy CEOs can create aliases for the email address they post on the Web (does billg@microsoft.com go directly to Gates?) and have a CSR or bot read it first.
Here's my take on it. We provide info@punchbowlsoftware.com as our email address so that more than one of us can see it if I'm traveling or otherwise going to be very busy (it's simple for us to redirect that account).
However, we take it one step further-- my cell phone number is on our site. It's a thrill for me to get calls from real users with real feedback. And it helps make MyPunchbowl.com better every day.
Here's the link to my cell number: Bottom of the page, under "Customer Support."
http://corp.mypunchbowl.com/faq.php
Matt, Founder MyPunchbowl.com
http://www.mypunchbowl.com
Regards,
Brian (no longer a wussy) Mulloy
Cofounder & CEO
www.swivel.com
Goodolejim
What is wrong with an info@ address, if it's where email gets read? I also don't see why CEOs' addresses should be listed on the site - does any snail mail letter end up on a CEO's desk without passing through the mail room and the secretary first?