What is wrong with a simple email address?
Michele Fellows, Director at Fellows and Associates, abuses her position in the company and uses the news wall to vent her anger at online RFP platforms.
I am frustrated. Frustrated to the point of anger! Is it too much to ask for hotels to provide a contact email address? Clearly some of the more elite feel this is the case. Instead they provide an online portal for you to fill in all your details in microscopic detail – much of which is not pertinent to your specific request. The issue I have with these online RFP (Request for Proposal) systems are multitude and I shall go into more detail once I have set the scene.
We are hosting an awards ceremony in association with another firm next year. We have determined the categories, found the judges, determined a time and location and secured the support of an influential professional body. Ta dah! The IPA’s (Intellectual Property Awards) have been born. It is now down to me to secure the venue at which the awards ceremony will take place. In the whole of Washington DC, only 10 locations fit the bill – who knew? We had to discount most of the more interesting locations due to a lack of capacity and so were left with 9 hotels with sufficient space and (my favourite) the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
I simply need to obtain quotes from each of them so that I can compare costs and make an informed decision…and yet, not so simple. I am based in the UK and, as mentioned, the inaugural IP Awards ceremony will take place in Washington DC. This presents a time difference constraint and as such email is my preferred method of communication as I can do so when the time suits my schedule. I determined everything I require in a detailed email that is ready to be shared with the appropriate persons at the ten identified venues. And so my trouble began.
I took each of the venue options in turn and searched their website for the appropriate contact email address. Once found, I sent them the email I had prepared and all I had to do was sit back and wait. Except, wait, the Four Seasons Washington didn’t provide an email address. I could phone, use their online RFP system or get in touch via Twitter, Facebook or Google+ but emailing the correct person was out of the question! No amount of website scouring could produce an email address so I quickly tweeted the Four Seasons Washington with “@FSWashington not providing an email address to get in touch will cost you the business before you’ve started. #IhateRequestProposalbuttons”. I received an almost immediate response requesting me to DM (Direct Message) them. Sorted.
Next came the Omni Shoreham. The same thing! They insisted I use their online RFP and even though I tried every other search to find an email address I ultimately had to succumb and use it. Alas, not only do Omni Hotels require you to use their online portal but they also require you to enter an appropriate “Captcha” (a unique code) to prove you are human and this is a legitimate request. The Captcha system did not work on the day I tried and kept telling me it was invalid (surely I didn’t get it wrong EVERY time?). By now I’m fuming, where is the logic to this? You want to win my business but you’re making it so difficult!? And so my pain continued with the Renaissance Mayflower, the Ritz Carlton and the Hilton.
It may seem petty or even irrational but the reason Request for Proposal portals are the bane of my life are:
- They are forcing me to cater to them, rather than working around my needs as the customer, by filling in predetermined (and sometimes irrelevant) fields.
- If I am seeking a quote from a number of establishments (as I was on this occasion) I then have to type in / copy and paste into the many boxes the same thing many, many times.
- As this is their online system, I do not have a copy of what has been sent. Perhaps it worked, perhaps it got sucked into a black hole and I shall never receive a response, how can I tell?
- Some require me to prove I am human and enter unique codes but then the software doesn’t work and I am left unable to use that channel of communication at all.
I understand that these organisations probably get significant amounts of spam email and this is their way of curbing it. Unfortunately, it is to their detriment, if they choose not to provide an easy means of communication. I can’t be the only one who dislikes these portals, dislikes them to the extent that I sometimes refuse to use them and would rather take my business elsewhere. I do not wish to air my needs via Facebook, Google+ and Twitter – thank you for the offer. I want to have a private conversation, one that can’t always be concluded over the phone. An email address is such a simple thing and yet not providing one is an easy way to alienate your customers before they’ve even made contact.
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