Well, we could all create yahoo e-mail addresses (like nospam@yahoo.com or maybe something with even more colorful language) and then use those addresses to register at the websites that require registration … but, wait, I don’t use those websites either!
I suspect I would also use that e-mail address to create a new account on this website if the advertisers get their way.
I would not want to start getting replies from every site I visit. Let me decide on who to invite to my inbox.
I should think that caddetails.com, aecdaily.com and other sites that start passing on visitor information will soon find that we will either not visit their sites or will start spoofing our IDs to remain anonymous.
For those sites where registration is required, I just put a single character in each box to satisfy the requirements not to leave anything blank.
Tracy, I already do that on an occasional basis. I use names that are obviously not real. For example, my name: “declined”; my email: “none@none.com”.
It also occurs to me after reading these posts that if a manufacturer collected the names of everyone who just “stopped by” their web site, they would have a whole database filled with junk. The vast majority of those people would not be interested in their product. Since they could not discern the truly interested specifiers or designers, the best use they could make of such a list is mass mailings–borderline spam. Is that what a manufacturer really wants?
I typically remove a manufacturer from our specs if they end up spamming me.
Thank you, Colin, for asking us and for watching out for us. I agree with all the responses posted. I don’t want my information given out to manufacturers simply because I visited their site.
There are enough interruptions in my day that I don’t need unsolicited phone calls from the manufacturers. If their technical reps were doing their jobs, or if they had technical reps, or if they exhibited at CSI convention they would already have the information and we would have a contact we knew and trusted.
I spend more time than I want clearing and blocking spam emails. I don’t need to add manufacturers sites I visit to that effort.
When I visit a site that requires registration before it lets me view the products, I either leave the website and find another manufacturer or I give a sham name. Either way, I don’t specify the manufacturer that makes me register so they can expand their marketing database.
Incidently, when I log off, I programmed my computer to automatically delete any cookies placed on it.
Thank you again.
I must agree with the majority here. I don’t want reps contacting me just because I viewed their website. 1. I may not have found what I needed from that firm. 2. I may have found what I needed at that site. 3. If I need more information, GOOD contact information should be provided on the website. 4. If I get any more “unsolicited” emails, I will spend too much time just deleting “spam” and may miss something of much more importance. 5. If firms want to know who I am, schedule a visit to my office, there is nothing like being able to discuss relevant information with a human being.
I would be VERY reluctant to utilize a website that allows others to inundate me with unwanted contacts.
I hate Web Forms. I will use an email address or link to one whenever possible because my contact info is in my signature. I hate taking the time to fill out the Web Forms and many of them will not work due to our IT security.
Absolutely no. I do not want my contact information passed on to manufacturers. Thanks, Colin for your inqiry, and for the best AEC website!
It would not be okay for you to give my email address to manufacturers; I want to choose for myself whether manufacturers get my contact info. I get about 100 junk emails a day to my professional email address, which has been the same for over ten years. I don’t need more email; I don’t need a phone call just because I visited a web site. I second Mitch Miller’s reasons.
Your site is so good, I would probably not give it up; but I would be angry that I had lost control of my own information. Thanks for asking!
Colin,
Perhaps there is someway in which a specifier can view a site and leave only an automatically generated foot print, for lack of a better term.
This information would be very general such as a description of the type of business and the geographic region/state/city, no specific information. The advertiser will at least know who is looking and where they’re from.
For example,
RESIDENTIAL BUILDER - TENNESSEE
No automatic way to do it.
A manufacturer could have a questionaire, anonymous of course, asking for that information as a survey, but no automatic way.
We have a website tracking program that tells us what is looked at, time spent, how they got there and what state the internet provider is based in and/or gives us the domain name if the firm accesses thru their own domain. In that case they usually have multiple offices and you really never know what office was on the site. In this case we bookmark the domain and watch for additional visits. If they return and spend more time we will then send info to their offices but will not call until they request info. We also have a sign up option to download the catalog and if they fill that out we will turn the information over to the local Rep.
We have an advantage that our products are few and specialized and do not require a lot of technical help. They also provide some very obvious advantages to use so the specifier can pretty much wing it on his own with out us bothering him.
The real neat part about the tracking program is that we get to see how much time our competition spends on our site and what they look at. You know you have a good product when they checking in a couple of times a week.
Colin is making a survey to help him and his clients serve us AEs better.
He needs as many direct responses as he can get to his Aug 15 questions:
My response:
Reasons:
I use 4specs sites two ways:
A. To study a product line that I need to know more about;
B. To find suitable product lines in the first place.
To do B., I have to surf many product lines. I may be trying to find out who makes a 3x3 tile, or which windows have Miami-Dade approval. I may have to surf 20 sites to find 3 scores. I do not want to hear back from - to me - 17 duds. I may even be familiar with the 3 scores already - or have them in my spec.
(AEs use 4specs to CONFIRM as well as STUDY ad SURF. Call this one C.)
To do A., I agree with the many AEs who have already said what they need the most is a knowledgeable, live number to call (a knowledgeable, live e-address almost as good.)
Help Colin. Respond directly to his questions.
Colin, I agree precisely with Tom Heineman, except more forcefully so. I get enough unwanted email on a daily basis and don’t need any more.
On the practical side, my clients make most of the product decisions that are not already in my master. That is the reason I use 4specs most of the time–to find product data and manufacturer location data that I don’t already have. If i need help, I know how to ask for it. If the manufacturers want to know what projects I am working on, I refer them to my clients.
If manufacturers would spend more time improving their web sites so that I can easily find the information I need, instead of publishing their marketing data, my job would be a lot easier, and they might even get specified without trying to contact me. The next time they ask you for subscriber data, I suggest you refer them to the CSRF suggested WebFormat sample for how to create a useful product web site. We will all benefit.
You may share my thoughts with anyone of your subscribers you wish.
Please do not give out my name and address, especially email address. I get enough email now that I spend about an hour a day just sorting the wheat from the chaff. And I am considering setting my email filter at the most aggressive setting I can to help reduce the volume.
I use 4specs as my personal web address book. I do not keep a favorites list for the manufacturers I can find on 4specs. While I sometimes browse the listings under specific sections to find manufacturers for products I seldom specify, I normally search for a particular manufacturer to find a specific website to research a particular product. If I cannot find the data on the website, I will call the manufacturer or the local product rep, myself. When I research products, I need the information immediately because of a deadline. I cannot wait for someone to respond to an email request sent through a website.
I suggest manufacturers ensure that their product technical data is available on their web sites. The data should be easily accessible, navigating through a minimum number of pages. The data must be downloadable and printable because I still need a project record and the web site may change tomorrow.
Heres an attempt at a positive 4specs solution - for Producers as well as A/Es:
If an A/E could indicate which of 3 modes he is in when he searches 4specs, it would help the producer to cull SURFING from STUDY and CONFIRMING click-ons. Make this a mini-menu window.
This would only confirm to in-the-dark producers just how their sites are really being used. As so many A/Es have said above:
We surf a lot thats where we start, and
We also want to be able to talk to a knowledgeable person quickly when we find a likely product and have a technical question.
There should then be another mini-menu window, perhaps at the end of each product description that allows the A/E to click on either:
Please have a technical rep call me [give number] or
Please give me a number I can call for technical assistance [give number] or
[default] No further questions.
Ditto Tom & David L & David S.
Tom, the three-option link would be a good compromise solution if Colin is getting a lot of pressure from advertisers, but it would be an extra - and needless - step. When people visit the target site, they are certainly able to indicate their need for further contact, assuming the site has an obvious contact link.
Changing the subject a little, it might be useful to both suppliers and 4specs users if linking through 4specs used a universal log-in/password for listed suppliers, similar to the “Net passport” used by MSN. Of course, without knowing how much trouble that would be, it’s easy to suggest.
You’d be surprised how many of these sites either a) don’t have an email address I can click on or b) have an email address which doesn’t work.
I detest the web forms because a) I have all the info the mfr needs in my email signature but it takes TIME to fill out the darn forms and b) Half of the forms won’t work with our office IT security anyway! Nothing more frustrating than taking time to fill out the form and it won’t work…
Does anyone have a web site address for Tenneco Building Products? I refuse to go through the AEC site that requires giving my information. If I can’t get directly on the Tenneco site and other sites, I will drop them from my specifications.