www.trustedsaskatoon.com and www.trustedregina.com are advertised very heavily in the cities they service ...and we do that for one reason and one reason only ..to educate the public about the directories and what they stand for...In doing so we can ruffle feathers of businesses that aren't Trusted, as well as organizations and businesses who may percieve us to be in ' competition' with them ...and although we are absolutely transparent in all our dealings - all the information required to substantiate our claims can be found easily in our blogs ( and blog archives), on our websites, in our reviews & testimonials..or if that is not enough or too time consuming then we are just a call or an email away ..and we GUARANTEE we will get back to you in a timely manner.
When we are advertising...we advertise TO the public ( not to businesses), and as the public has never had a service like Trusted before it is important to explain what the directories are, how they operate, what are the many features and benefits of going to Trusted over other directories and websites out there.... and what we ( Trusted) as a business, brand and organization STAND FOR!
We understand that the cynics and other organizations that perhaps feel threatened out there will mutter,grumble and try to find holes in our business philosophy ..and we have had comments like:
"what makes these businesses TRUSTED?"
" why should we trust you?"
" the businesses pay to be members...so you must work for them and be biased"
" There is always a risk..how can you be sure a business won't RIP you off"
(The last one was a comment direct from the Better Business Bureau of Saskatchewan to us on 24th April 2012)
So this blog is meant to clearly lay out our Marketing and to explain who we are and what we do in the simplest terms!!
Trusted claims
"WE ARE THE ONLY DIRECTORY THAT WORKS FOR YOU"
Trusted is invested in providing the best local directory and local resource library possible for the public...
Trusted has provided a service that removes the work and stress out of choosing a business when a need arises..how do we do that ?
TRUSTED DOES EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO ENSURE WE ONLY FEATURE GREAT BUSINESSES ....this means you can be assured that when you choose one of the Trusted businesses that you are choosing wisely-
Firstly we don't just ' cold call' businesses randomly ...Trusted businesses come recommended or nominated.. by other businesses or by friends, suppliers, clients and the public ...
When we did our research we were surprised that other 'seemingly similar-ish ' organizations criteria to be endorsed is just being in business for a year ..or because they are a big business, or even just because they are affiliated to other organizations or 3rd parties .....not Trusted... we know that there are MUCH more important factors than tenure or size when choosing a business ..we are more interested in integrity, service and quality... and you would be amazed at how many nominations we get through the websites on a weekly basis!
Trusted staff check THE BASICS... licenses, insurances and WE ensure they have the qualifications required to do what they do....
Then we gather a minimum of 25 names and numbers of clients of the business applying, we call a portion of them to check out references and we survey them..with a few closed, but mostly OPEN ENDED questions- look at the listings on the directories and you will see they all start with testimonials, this is where they came from and we can be on the phone for quite sometime chatting with these people...and hearing about their personal experiences!
If we get average feedback on the business or any bad feedback we DO NOT proceed with the businesses Trusted application...it is not EASY to be Trusted... we set the bar high.
Here is a picture of just some of the surveys - from 1 Trusted Saskatoon Contractor - 3 n'1 Construction
After the business has passed that stage of the application we sign a contract with the business, where they sign to uphold the
TRUSTED GUARANTEES
1.Provide the service and quality promised.
2.Complete the job on time.
3.Charge the price quoted with NO surprises.
4.Communicate honestly and be responsive to customer needs.
5.Resolve any issues with customer satisfaction in mind.
ONLY Then do we feature them on the directory as Trusted!
Do we say they are the BEST ? No
Do we say they offer the MOST value or quality or that they are better than others? No
We simply say that you can TRUST them.. they have put themselves out there and proven to TRUSTED that they will do all they can to live up to our reasonable expectations...and then some!
Oh and just to be sure, we have a Mystery Shopper Program ...this is to add in an additional security check and if they have issues in the mystery shop that are not resolved or if we hear and it is proven that they have not upheld the guarantees we will ( and have )REMOVE a business from the directory....
Just click on our Google Places and read the reviews on us.... in particular read Tracy D's review...she came to us with a problem..and TRUSTED helped her....she is not the first and she will not be the last that comes to us for help .....as she said we ARE the REAL DEAL...and have lots of evidence to prove it....but with out express consent of the parties involved we will not share any other specifics in this most public of forums....we value the Trusted Businesses and the individual members of the publics right to privacy.
On top of this EVERY YEAR the businesses must re- qualify to retain their status...TRUST is earned not GIVEN!
In addition to this rigourous and lengthy unique Trusted verification process, we work for the public in another way ...by keeping in close contact with the businesses to gather Tips and resources for the public..we ask the public through our many social media platforms ( FB and Twitter being just some of them ) what they want to know..then we provide the answers in our Trusted Tips both in the blogs and by means of our Global TV weekly Tips (* which can be easily accessed on our You Tube Channel! See below for a great example of us working FOR the public and helping them have their voice heard by business)
" NO RISK ..JUST TRUSTED BUSINESSES THAT WILL NOT RIP YOU OFF"
Everything we do at Trusted combines to substantiate this claim.. ....
From the process we just out lined above...
To something as simple as restricting the NUMBER of Trusted Businesses to maximum of just 3 per category.....
Ask your self.....how can any business that positions them selves as having high standards like ours possibly manage 400, 500 , 600 + businesses .....and ensure high standards are maintained? ..IT's IMPOSSIBLE ...unless you have unilmited resources and staff.....we know that Yellow pages, other online directories and the BBB would be unable to do what we do ..they have 1000's of businesses to ' police ' and they simply don't have the resources, systems or money available ..and most are driven soley by profit so they lack any inclination to DO what Trusted is doing....they have their place...we have ours ...we promote the TRUSTED businesses ..they list some of ours too...along with lots of other businesses; some that do not meet our strict criterea along with others that might ....Trusted values all of these other organizations that have some type of standards ...anyone trying to improve business practices in the marketplace is a good thing for consumers ..and for the public...
However when you add all of this together it is clear that Trusted really is....the SMART & SIMPLE CHOICE!
Stay Trusted my friends..SAFE & TRUSTED Of course!
