"Anonymous" or "Known" Website Visits

Archive of Older Topics Archive - Specifications Discussions
1

In just the past week 3 advertisers have asked me to provide the identity of the person we sent to their website. Apparently caddetails.com, aecdaily.com and other directories are telling the manufacturer that they will email them information about visitors sent to their website (name, company, email address, phone, etc.) so the manufacturer can further contact the visitor. This is done through the registration process and a cookie that contains the identity.

My personal philosophy is to not provide any website with usable identification for me, unless it is to enter the New York Times or Wall Street Journal subscription areas.

I have said to the manufacturers that the typical 4specs user will call if they need more information and otherwise does not want or need any additional contact.

What are your thoughts about receiving an email or mail from a website you visited through a directory? I know that a caddetails.com advertiser sent me an email after I visited their website.

I will pass your thoughts on in my newsletters and at the Product Rep Academy in October.

2

Unfortunately everyone has to get paid, and those folks get paid only through verifiable contacts.
Somebody has to ‘take the high road’ and demonstrate a better way to run the construction marketing machine other than inundate decision-makers with junk.
I don’t think educating reps is useful and here’s why - reps are often ineffective (not necessarily the reps fault) at communicating with the manufacturers that pump out this stuff and ‘need’ your contact information.
Reps generally don’t make the marketing decisions.

3

I agree with your direction on this, Mr. Gilboy, and thanks for taking this up with the inquiries.

All I ask is that the product folks show us their full and correct name [Division, etc.] address, phone number, fax,number, e-mail and web site addresses, up-front and obviously for our easy use. [This also goes for all their literautre and web site pages]

I hate to have to search out who to call, who I’m dealing with and what to call them [in spec references, etc.] Quick example, is Sonneborn, Div. of Chemrex, Part of the degussa group [WOW!]

4

I think I need to restate this question:

  1. You use 4specs to visit a website - say to National Gypsum

  2. I send the National Gypsum marketing people a list of all the visitors I sent to their website - including your name, company, phone and email address.

  3. National Gypsum then has a rep call on you, mails you information or sends you an email.

Is this OK? Would you be unhappy when you realized the source of the contact? Would you use the website directory again?

5

I use the directory to do research. And sometimes that means visiting alot of sites in one day. I would not like to have my email or mail inboxes inundated with product literature from each site I visit. I’d prefer to contact the manufacturer, or their rep, directly if I need any further information.

As a side note, if manufacturers would follow your lead on website format, there would be very little need for manufacturers to follow up, since all the information a specifer would need was made available on the website. Drop the fancy Flash videos (or keep them for the designers if you wish), and provide a no-nonsense data area for specifiers.

6

Colin,

No, I would not be inclined to use the directory that did that. Some things I look up as a follow up to a visit, not the other way around. Most of the times its to be reminded of the web address I forgot, I am familiar with the product, may have a good rep locally, just doing some research or personal education.

When I want something I can’t find, I then contact my local rep directly, and if none or don’t know them, contact the company directly.

William

7

Since I am using their information in a spec, and they (may or may not) provide the material for a project because I did that, we’ve already had a fair exchange - tit for tat, if you will.
However, they probably want to know who’s coming from where, to determine if their advertising/marketing bucks are being spent wisely.
Most of the reps I work with would be prudent about the use of the information and would not pester me. They might call or email to make sure I got the information I needed. I think I can handle that (although some days, if that phone rings one more time, it’s history!).
So, I say it’s OK, I would not be unhappy and I would use 4specs directory again.
After all, we should be working together anyway, those reps and me.

8

Oh yeah, thanks for asking first. I’m sure we all appreciate the consideration.

9

Like Ron (and others), I use 4specs (and other sites) as a virtual product library. I often visit dozens of sites to find three or four products that I want to include in my specification and have our team use for detailing purposes.

If I heard from only the three of four that I intend to use, that would be fine. I really don’t want to hear from all any the companies whose products I’ve already decided not to use.

10

Colin,
Decidedly not, in my case. I visit many, many web sites in the course of a week, and the degree to which I want to hear from the manufacturer varies tremendously. For example, I may just be poking around to see what’s out that’s there new that may be of interest to my firm’s practice. Or, I may be trying to find a particular type of company and click on every single listing under a particular CSI number just to see who they are. I definitely don’t want to hear from them.

On the other hand, when I do find a manufacturer who’s product is of interest to me, I will call them up based upon their web site information. (To date, I have not mentioned to them that I’m a 4specs user, but I suppose I could do that.) Colin, you will not be surprised to learn how many manufacturers actually do NOT want you to call! A few simply do not have phone numbers available on their site, instead wanting you to rely on e-mail or a web-form to contact them. This is completely shocking to me–an advertiser (that’s what a web site is) who discourages you from calling! What the h-- are they thinking?! Plus, I’m sure we’ve all had some experience with unreliable e-mail. The “black-hole” of electronic commerce. (Besides, with the volume of truly damaging or illicit spam these days, a manufacturer is fortunate if I don’t relegate their e-mail to the spam can. Messages should be well-identified with subject, and a “from” field that gives some indication of where it’s from to avoid that fate.)

Permit me to diverge here to relate an exemplary story of response to an e-mail: I filled out a form on the Sarnafil web site looking for information. I got a telephone call in a half hour from a customer service rep. He contacted my architectural rep who called me within ten minutes. As luck would have it, he was in the area and dropped by with a binder that afternoon. Within a couple of hours I had what I needed. Now that’s service!! Thanks, Sarnafil!

But back to the topic at hand. So, while I don’t mind sharing my name with manufacturers that I have a serious interest in, I want anonimity with most of them. Quite frankly, if 4specs were to start this practice, my use of the site would be severely curtailed, and I may drop it’s use entirely. Decidedly NOT what I’d like to do. If the technology were available on 4specs so that I could say: have this company contact me, I would probably use that occasionally.

Generally, I resent having to “register” at manufacturer’s web sites when I’m merely in the window-shopping mode. If I want to download details or specs, that’s fine, I’ll tell them who I am. Manufacturers would do well to refocus their efforts on doing well by the people who do actually call them, rather than collecting names in a big database and serving all of them poorly.

11

I generally agree. I don’t necessarily want to be contacted by manufacturer who’s web site I visit. If I want additional information, I will call, provided that they have included a phone numer on their web site.
Web sites that give complete contact info, including locations and contact info for local reps are more likely to receive a phone call from me. At that time if they ask how I found them, I could tell them “through 4specs”.
I sure don’t need more spam on my computer!

12

Is this OK? No.

Would you be unhappy when you realized the source of the contact? Yes.

Would you use the website directory again? No.

13

I am not proposing to collect names; I am looking for a good response to handle the manufacturer asking for the name.

14

Colin, I would simply allow them to review the comments you received on this topic.

15

Colin, I agree again. It’s the message you were trying to send last Tuesday a the OCC CSI Meeting about what manufacturer’s need to do to get specified. Bugging you for contact names & bugging us with unsolicited/unwanted info is the fastest way not to get specified. If they somehow happen to get a hold of our client’s contact info (not through you, but say from some sort of registration request - I have had some sites not let you register without putting something in)and contact the client directly without our permission they have just excluded themselves from ever getting specifed by me again ever!

16

Colin,

Thanks for considering the comments of the users before committing one way or the other.

As for having a manufacturer contact me unsolicited, frankly, would be unnecessary. In the process of doing research, one of two things usually happens: Either I find exactly what I’m looking for (most manufacturers’ web site are that good), and go about my merry way developing my spec with the newly acquired information; or I don’t find what I’m looking for, in which case I contact the manufacturer directly. Nearly every web site I’ve visited has a “Contact Us” link somewhere on the page. (Any given user always has the opportunity to request a follow-up call or visit from the manufacturer, so the manufacturer is never deprived of a sales opportunity from those who wish to be contacted.) Ultimately, I end up getting the information I need. I need nothing further, including a sales pitch to buy / specify more of their products.

Let’s face it, if manufacturers gained access to information on everyone who accessed their site, the probability is pretty high that they would use it for sales and marketing purposes.

It’s sort of like like shopping - how many of us go into a shopping mall with absolutely no earthly idea of what it is we want, and enlist the aid of a sales person to help us make up our mind? Chances are, we don’t even set foot in a retail establishment until we DO know what we want.

4-Specs is like a 12,00 store shopping mall. I know what I want when I walk in, it’s just a matter of finding the store that carries it. Once found, the need for that store is greatly diminished, until I need another item of merchandise. And since specifying is more “need-driven” rather than “impulse-buying”, receiving sales fliers, promotions, etc. from manufacturers (with their hopes of selling more product) are somewhat futile.

So, to answer your questions . . .

Is this OK? No

Would you be unhappy when you realized the source of the contact? A bit miffed perhaps, but certainly not postal.

Would you use the website directory again? Probably, but only because it is such a valuable tool, and the Sweets Catalogs are way over at the other end of the office (really).

But keep in mind that which makes this such a great website - free, unlimited, and UNENCUMBERED access to 12,000 manufacturers’ web sites, providing specifiers with the ability to do their necessary technical research without the worry of being subsequently inundated with spam from every site they visited.

Keep up the good work . . .

17

I agree with most here, expecially Mr. Geren. If there were an option that I could turn on and off fine but…Please not without my knowing it.

18

Colin,
Is this OK? NO

Would you be unhappy when you realized the source of the contact? YES

Would you use the website directory again? NOT AS FREQUENTLY

I use 4SPECS to save time. You provide links to many manufacturers, which can not be found easily elsewhere in one spot.
The manufactaurer’s sites I use for many different reasons from needing to find a local reps contact information, for phone numbers to be included in the specification (when the project manager forgot to send me that information and it is a public bid job needing 3 named manufacturers with #s), to double check the project managers when I doubt the product they provided will work, to check on a company that was faxed to me and I doubt the company exists anymore, for research of many different manufacturers, etc.

The website does not replace a human being (the representative), nor does it need to be used as a sales tool to replace the human being, or for that matter to send me more than what I need. I will call them when in need more!!!

Like others - when I have to register on a manufacturer’s site, I go elsewhere…Takes too much time!

Thank you very much Colin, for asking first. I appreciate that.

19
  1. Is this OK? No.
  2. Would you be unhappy when you realized the source of the contact? Yes.
  3. Would you use the website directory again? Sparingly.

Anonymity has it’s place, I deal with enough unsolicited contacts!

20

Colin, I find myself in agreement with nearly everyone on this issue, including being appreciative of your concern for our opinions.

I get enough unsolicited e-mails every day about printer cartridges and viagra just to name a couple. I sure dont want my in box even more crowded with stuff I don’t need.

I also agree strongly with Julie and others about not using web sites that require me to register before I can even find out if they have what Im looking for.