Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2004-10-21 16:58:23 - Graham Ellis
We have an enquiry form on our web site .... and over the years we've learnt that not all requests for information are a genuine interest in our courses. There's a number of "flags" that point to these requests made for other purposes - and I thought I spotted five such flags in a single request yesterday
* The request didn't state what subject the enquirer is interested in
* The request asked for information that is readily available on our web site
* The request asked us to fax information to a premium rate UK number (35p or 63c per minute)
* The request was submitted from a far East IP address
* No email address, no postal address, no "regular" phone number given
Do you know the amazing thing - I sent a short but polite fax saying "hey - this is a bit naughty" and actually got an answer. It seems that the guy concerned feels he's got a genuine reason ("I have this number to filter the crap that comes from cold calling") for having his own premium rate number, and is currently travelling in Japan .... and I'm now wondering whether or not I want to follow up and encourage business from a client who's quite prepared to waste his potential supplier's money in having them contact him back at their greater-than-normal expense.
Did I mention he let slip in his answer that he's asked four other training companies to fax him their schedules on his "I get paid some of what you pay for this" line ... and he implied that they have done. No wonder we're able to keep our costs down better :-)