Why I’m not surprised so many businesses STILL don’t have websites.

This is 2007 and there’s a lot of businesses that still haven’t figured out the internet.

I’ve always found that odd, but have come to realize recently why this is: a lot of businesses still have yet to figure out the phone.

We’ve been doing a lot of work outside our house this past year and upcoming summer. Concrete work. Tree work. Sod. Garbage bins, etc.

I like to use our local paper to find local contractors. If you go the classifieds of our neighborhood weekly you can find a long list of lawn services, handymen and women, tree services, concrete work, plumbers, electricians, etc. This is a nice service. I can quickly see everyone that supports our area and it includes all of the smaller, family-run businesses that normally couldn’t afford much ad space in the larger dailies.

Unfortunately, actually getting a hold of one of these businesses can be a real challenge. Various example exchanges while trying to call these businesses:

  • Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, BEEP…
  • Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, “the phone number you are trying to reach is not available…”
  • Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, “this voicemail box is full”
  • Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ‘This is Ed, leave a message…’
  • Ring, ring, ring, “hello? Hold on (muffled conversation, kids yelling) um, Bob isn’t here right now…”

I can appreciate the fact that most of these businesses are being run out of the house, but c’mon…it’s not THAT hard to leave a decent voice mail greeting, is it? At least state your business name so I know that I called the right number. Also, if you are going to place an ad in the paper, please be sure that the name of the business in the ad is the same as the business name you use to answer the phone with. That one has thrown me off more than a few times.

P.S. If anyone knows of a good company that does sod work in St. Paul, let me know!