What would you do?
Discussion
Long story short:
Pal puts us in touch with large ish company who want branding, a site and marketing to land large trade clients - the SEO is paramount but they are open to anything if they can get 1 good lead a month.
We put a lot of work into the proposal and refined it with more performance metrics regarding traffic and dwell.
No other agency was bidding and we were in budget and told on courtesy visit 3 we had it and we shoujd send a contract.
Did that and heard nothing, after pushing we’re told new commercial director coming on board and we had to meet them. Did that, all smiles, shared interests and career paths, all smiles and good to go - nothing - when chased it’s all “just doing xx will be in touch soon” in the end I went to the M.D. who said the new commercial director had recommended another much cheaper company who have started the project.
Normally that’s no issue happens every day but the new guy was still stinging us along possibly because the M.D. was paranoid about SEO continuity and improvement.
I had to let the new guy know hiw I felt and I doubt I’ll get a cmas card from them but you can’t always be professional (!)
So 4 months later my quandary is do I tell them the “do not follow” links are still active throughout the site? (Yes it’s launched, new brand, pr etc)
If I do it looks stalkerish, if I don’t well I’d want to know. I was thinking of putting this on linked in where the partner of the other Liverpool agency regularly spouts inane shyte about online marketing.
Pal puts us in touch with large ish company who want branding, a site and marketing to land large trade clients - the SEO is paramount but they are open to anything if they can get 1 good lead a month.
We put a lot of work into the proposal and refined it with more performance metrics regarding traffic and dwell.
No other agency was bidding and we were in budget and told on courtesy visit 3 we had it and we shoujd send a contract.
Did that and heard nothing, after pushing we’re told new commercial director coming on board and we had to meet them. Did that, all smiles, shared interests and career paths, all smiles and good to go - nothing - when chased it’s all “just doing xx will be in touch soon” in the end I went to the M.D. who said the new commercial director had recommended another much cheaper company who have started the project.
Normally that’s no issue happens every day but the new guy was still stinging us along possibly because the M.D. was paranoid about SEO continuity and improvement.
I had to let the new guy know hiw I felt and I doubt I’ll get a cmas card from them but you can’t always be professional (!)
So 4 months later my quandary is do I tell them the “do not follow” links are still active throughout the site? (Yes it’s launched, new brand, pr etc)
If I do it looks stalkerish, if I don’t well I’d want to know. I was thinking of putting this on linked in where the partner of the other Liverpool agency regularly spouts inane shyte about online marketing.
DSLiverpool said:
Long story short:
Pal puts us in touch with large ish company who want branding, a site and marketing to land large trade clients - the SEO is paramount but they are open to anything if they can get 1 good lead a month.
We put a lot of work into the proposal and refined it with more performance metrics regarding traffic and dwell.
No other agency was bidding and we were in budget and told on courtesy visit 3 we had it and we shoujd send a contract.
Did that and heard nothing, after pushing we’re told new commercial director coming on board and we had to meet them. Did that, all smiles, shared interests and career paths, all smiles and good to go - nothing - when chased it’s all “just doing xx will be in touch soon” in the end I went to the M.D. who said the new commercial director had recommended another much cheaper company who have started the project.
Normally that’s no issue happens every day but the new guy was still stinging us along possibly because the M.D. was paranoid about SEO continuity and improvement.
I had to let the new guy know hiw I felt and I doubt I’ll get a cmas card from them but you can’t always be professional (!)
So 4 months later my quandary is do I tell them the “do not follow” links are still active throughout the site? (Yes it’s launched, new brand, pr etc)
If I do it looks stalkerish, if I don’t well I’d want to know. I was thinking of putting this on linked in where the partner of the other Liverpool agency regularly spouts inane shyte about online marketing.
Annoying situation I agree. You know this already, but my view is that you have to always bite your tongue and be professional, regardless of how aggravating the clients actions have been. The reason is that otherwise you burn your bridges. Pal puts us in touch with large ish company who want branding, a site and marketing to land large trade clients - the SEO is paramount but they are open to anything if they can get 1 good lead a month.
We put a lot of work into the proposal and refined it with more performance metrics regarding traffic and dwell.
No other agency was bidding and we were in budget and told on courtesy visit 3 we had it and we shoujd send a contract.
Did that and heard nothing, after pushing we’re told new commercial director coming on board and we had to meet them. Did that, all smiles, shared interests and career paths, all smiles and good to go - nothing - when chased it’s all “just doing xx will be in touch soon” in the end I went to the M.D. who said the new commercial director had recommended another much cheaper company who have started the project.
Normally that’s no issue happens every day but the new guy was still stinging us along possibly because the M.D. was paranoid about SEO continuity and improvement.
I had to let the new guy know hiw I felt and I doubt I’ll get a cmas card from them but you can’t always be professional (!)
So 4 months later my quandary is do I tell them the “do not follow” links are still active throughout the site? (Yes it’s launched, new brand, pr etc)
If I do it looks stalkerish, if I don’t well I’d want to know. I was thinking of putting this on linked in where the partner of the other Liverpool agency regularly spouts inane shyte about online marketing.
As things stood, they must have been interested in your ideas and proposals, else they wouldn't have continued the conversation. They picked a cheaper company presumably on the basis they thought they would be able to do a similar job. But as is the case when you start a relationship with any new company, there is a possibility it won't go to plan.
By keeping the relationship cordial, you could reasonably have phoned them in a years time with a quick 'how goes it' type call. Whereas if you have told them how frustrated you are at their behaviour, even if true, you probably have burnt the relationship.
In terms of the error the other company has made, I agree with the previous poster. It would be churlish to mention it. They won't thank you, and it is a distraction for you.
Leave it is the best answer of course
But!
There is nothing to lose here and why not have a bit of fun
You could drop a line to the MD saying something nice about the looks of the new site, but pointing out that under the hood the issues that you would have addressed to deal properly with SEO continuity and improvement are still there and that 'maybe that was why our quote was that little bit more costly than the cheaper one"
Also, is there an obvious direct competitor that you could approach to do some work for?
But!
There is nothing to lose here and why not have a bit of fun
You could drop a line to the MD saying something nice about the looks of the new site, but pointing out that under the hood the issues that you would have addressed to deal properly with SEO continuity and improvement are still there and that 'maybe that was why our quote was that little bit more costly than the cheaper one"
Also, is there an obvious direct competitor that you could approach to do some work for?
Hi,
Keep an eye on the site but don't contact them. When or even 'if' eventually the other company fix the under the hood issues, you could drop the MD a line and say this wouldn't have happened if they'd stayed with your more knowledgeable, professional and experienced company. Mention that should they wish to return with you that they'd be welcome and well looked after. Leave it at that point!
If they don't get fixed, leave them to it. You 'could' re-visit in a year or two and if the issues still aren't fixed or badly fixed, you could say their 'archived' project was revisited as part of your excellent in house maintenance and when compared to their 'live' site, you noticed the other company hadn't really done what they were mean't to.
You 'might' get the business at that point!
Cheers, Dennis!
Keep an eye on the site but don't contact them. When or even 'if' eventually the other company fix the under the hood issues, you could drop the MD a line and say this wouldn't have happened if they'd stayed with your more knowledgeable, professional and experienced company. Mention that should they wish to return with you that they'd be welcome and well looked after. Leave it at that point!
If they don't get fixed, leave them to it. You 'could' re-visit in a year or two and if the issues still aren't fixed or badly fixed, you could say their 'archived' project was revisited as part of your excellent in house maintenance and when compared to their 'live' site, you noticed the other company hadn't really done what they were mean't to.
You 'might' get the business at that point!
Cheers, Dennis!
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