Trusted Directories Latest News

Trusted Directories Latest News

Trusted is announced as FINALISTS in Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce 2012 ABEX Award for Marketing

The Trusted Team  is absolutely THRILLED, Excited & Proud to announce that S & E Trusted Online Directory - the business that owns the  www.trustedsaskatoon.com , www.trustedregina.com online directories and  www.trustedcanada.com has just been announced as one of the 5 FINALISTS for the 2012 ABEX award for Marketing -These are the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce awards for excellence in business!

Sara Wheelwright the Trusted Founder received a phone call Sept 9th  from the Saskatchewan Chamber with the news...and it was quickly announced to the media in the following press release:

For Immediate Release September 5, 2012 2012 ABEX Finalists Named

The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the list of finalists in the 2012 Achievement in Business Excellence (ABEX) Awards. In total, 46 nominations from outstanding Saskatchewan businesses were selected as finalists within the 10 ABEX categories. “The quality and diversity of these finalists really showcases the way in which Saskatchewan’s economy is taking a leadership role within Canada, and across the global stage,” said Steve McLellan, CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce. “This year’s slate of nominees is an interesting combination of established businesses with proven achievement records and more recent enterprises that truly show the innovative nature of the latest generation of Saskatchewan entrepreneurs.” This year will mark the 29th anniversary of the ABEX Awards, Saskatchewan’s largest celebration of private sector achievement. The event is hosted by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, and presented by Conexus Credit Union. The ABEX is open to any private sector business registered within the province, regardless of size, location or industry. The 2012 ABEX gala, set for October 20th at the Delta Hotel in Regina, is themed as a tribute to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Tickets for the event are on sale now at www.saskchamber.com 

Announcement of the 2012 recipients of the Hall of Fame and Business Leader of the Year will be made prior to the event.

The Business of the Year ABEX Award will be announced at the event October 20th. 

The 2012 ABEX Award Finalists Marketing

Sponsored by KPMG LLP

Trusted would like to extend wishes to the other 45 finalists in all categories  of the ABEX awards ( see full list here ) Congratulation and Good Luck ..we look forward to meeting all of you at theOctober 20th Gala in Regina..to celebrate excellence in business in the province of Saskatchewan ..it what we live and love!!

Thanks must go to our media partners, Family and friends along with the Trusted Partners for their ongoing support!

Just like we said in our 30 page application - " We are driven to do what we are doing because the Trusted team believes we are doing a good thing- for business in the province as well as for the public….we are rewarding and promoting excellence in business from local Saskatchewan businesses big and small …and we are doing it because we BELIEVE in what we are doing ..and we BELIEVE in our Trusted Partners!

  Other articles-news

Other articles /news

 

 

 

Other news articles-

Sask Chamber

Leader Post

Star Phoenix

Newstalk 980

Newstalk 650

Trusted has BIG advertising claims...here we substantiate them!

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!

 

Trusted Founder is inteviewed by Star Phoenix and Global as www.trustedregina.com launches to public

Websites help identify trustworthy businesses   
By Jenn Sharp, The StarPhoenix April 19, 2012    
 
Sara Wheelwright began Trusted Saskatoon less than a year ago and launched Trusted Regina on Monday. The websites are a service directory of businesses Wheelwright and her staff have fully researched. Trusted partners are held accountable for their business dealings and contribute tips and advice to the website for consumers. Along with the sites are blogs full of mystery shopping reviews conducted by the Trusted staff and a YouTube channel. Here, Wheelwright tells StarPhoenix business reporter Jenn Sharp how she's grown her business so fast and why she started it.  
 
Q: What's the concept of Trusted Saskatoon?  
A: I thought there was a gap in the market. I have an 18year background in advertising. I wanted to provide something that works for the public - an agency that finds businesses that deserve the promotion and informs the public about them in a different way. People are going online for answers now. We want to make the whole process simple. We chose the 40 most-used advertising categories. When they go to our site they have a choice of a maximum of three in each category. We try to find different personalities for mortgage specialists and real estate agents. We also demand a lot from the Trusted partners. We become a group that works for each other. If any of the partners lets us down it affects everybody. They're contracted to uphold the five Trusted guarantees. They're told that if we get a complaint and it's found they've done something with intent or lost integrity, they'll be removed immediately from the site. We don't mess around.  
 
Q: Why do you only have three per category?  
A: We're trying to make the process easy. If you have 10, how do you choose? The listings are very comprehensive. The testimonials are from surveys we do with clients. We ask for 25 clients' names and numbers from each of the businesses. We then call a portion of them and we're looking from good to great reviews. We're talking to the public and they tell us great stories about their dealings with the businesses. We use those testimonials to start off the listings - real testimonials from real people. I think we're the only place online that qualifies these testimonials because we're speaking to the people ourselves.  
 
Q: How many staff do you employ?  
A: I have four lovely ladies. Two are based in Saskatoon and two in Regina. As we expand, I'm going to be solidifying the province first of all and then going into Alberta, starting with Calgary, we'll be taking on more staff. There's a lot of work to signing up companies. We're constantly in touch with the partners and asking them for tips for the site. People do research online before they buy. It's much nicer to have people in Saskatoon or Regina giving potential customers tips before they buy. It's elevating our partners as the experts and getting them engaged with the public.  
 
Q: How did you come up with the idea?  
A: I moved here from England in 2006. When you immigrate to the middle of Canada, it's not worth the freight so I had sold everything I owned in England and came over with clothes and shoes - all the important things! I had to fill a house with everything. The excitement of shopping wore off because it's really not what it was when I was back in England and I knew the shops. It was so labour intensive. I stumbled upon some good ones but a lot of the smaller businesses don't have the budget to get your attention. I had some bad experiences. It's easy to do business when things go easy. Once things don't that's really the difference between a good and a great business. One of the things that I always speak about with the trusted partners is that nobody should be in a position of loss because they chose to deal with you. That's a foundation of Trusted Saskatoon.   
 
Q: You're expanding rapidly - how have you done this?  
A: Trusted Saskatoon launched May 30 last year. Scotia Bank is a preferred bank of immigration and they hand out flyers to immigrants that come to see them. We focus on everybody because everybody has those moments where a need arises and they don't know who to turn to. We also run ads on community radio on the weekend in every single foreign language show. On seven of the shows we have the ad voiced in the language of the show. An old marketing term is 'speak to the dog in the language of the dog.' One of the things that you miss as a new person coming to a new country is your language, your food and your music. That's a way to engage with the immigrant population who, a lot of the time, become insulated because they've been ripped off. We get a lot of people looking at auto repair and service too. A lot of our fans on Facebook are women. I think we appeal more to women because they tend to be the ones that do the calling. This started because I got ripped off when I first came here by a plumbing company. Thanks to that company that was the big kick to put this idea down on paper. I got a phone call from one of my contractors who's amazed at how many calls he gets - about one a day. He said that his business, since last year, has grown 400 per cent. He went from employing one guy to three crews. More importantly, he's making sure that he instils that integrity and honesty in the people that work for him. Those are the people that deserve this recognition.
 
 

Sara Wheelwright owns the websites Trusted Saskatoon and Trusted Regina. Photograph by: Richard Marjan, The Starphoenix ,

The StarPhoenix Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Websites+help+identify+trustworthy+businesses/6482636/story.html#ixzz1sUsLyECt

 

Here is the Global Regina interview with Rusty and Sara from April 16th 2012

 

 

Trusted Founder Sara Wheelwright is interviewed by local Regina magazine Show " Talk of the Town host Roger Currie

Sara Wheelwright the Trusted Online Directories Founder was recently Interviewed on a Local Regina stations ( Access Channel 7 ) Popular daytime magazine show " Talk of the Town " by the wonderful host Roger Currie.

Roger found out about www.trustedregina.com on the ' Social Media Grapevine' ( Linkedin) and contacted Sara to ask for an interview..she gladly agreed..and enjoyed chatting with Roger about where the idea for Trusted came from ...whats involved with being TRUSTED...and whats the plans for this new and dynamic business that workd for the public and is trying to change the way businesses operate by promoting the ones out there that are doing it WELL! 

Enjoy!!

   

 

 

 

Stay Trusted my friends..SAFE and TRUSTED CANADA!

Trusted Regina announces Date of Mass Media Launch to the public- Monday April 16th we will be launching or 2nd city!

Trusted is thrilled & excited to announce that we are launching our 2nd TRUSTED DIRECTORY in Regina, Saskatchewan on April 16th 2012 ... Trusted Regina the REGINA DIRECTORY of Excellence and local experts!
We have been in the Regina market for a number of months knocking on doors and working especially hard to find businesses who share our philosophies and who demonstrated to us that they operate with the level of integrity in business that we demand to be part of the amazing Trusted network we are building in the fine province of Saskatchewan. We spoke to many members of the public, business community and even members of Saskatchewan Government to find out who to approach with the opportunity to be involved in something different,unique and absolutely 100% customer service focused.
We look for businesses who are local experts, who sign up to share their knowledge with the public ..freely...to help them even if they haven't met them yet....through our Trusted Tips blogs!
So Regina watch out and listen for us on that day and EVERY Day after as we hit the airwaves on Big Dog, The Wolf, CKRM, My 92.1 and CJTR Regina Community Radio ...look for us on the Digital Skies Network ...and watch out for the Flyers and Stickers everywhere .....know that when you choose a Trusted business they come with GUARANTEES ..and that Trusted is the SMART & SIMPLE CHOICE we do all the research for you ..so you don't have to .....
 
www.trustedregina.com has already had a soft launch in Regina as we run on 2 Digital skies Electronic Billboards ( TJ's Pizza & Galon Insurance signs) in the city calling for Nominations.....if you know good business there DO let us know as we are still looking for AMAZING busineses in many catgories..go to the website NOMINATE   section HERE ..if you do this BEFORE April 15th you will be entered in the draw to win $1000 cash..which will be drawn that day ( Do not forget to put your name and contact details so we can contact you if you win) ..we also have a 1/ 2 page ad in both the Regina and Saskatoon sections of the 2012 Tourism Saskatchewan Discovery Guide that has 175,000 copies province wide!!
As well as the newest and in our opinion BEST Magazine in the Province PINK magazine ..which is a locally published Saskatchewan Women focused Publication..the half pages run under a Column by the Trusted founder Sara Wheelwright ...who shares her thoughts on being a Woman entrepreneur in Saskatchewan
So you see..we do things differently at Trusted ...from beginning to end and everything in between....and nothing demonstrates that more than our SABEX Application for Marketing that we submitted ..and then uploaded the whole thing to our YOU TUBE Channel
See how we " THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX " here at Trusted in this video ..ENJOY!!!
Stay Trusted my friends ..SAFE and TRUSTED CANADA.  
 
 
 
 
 

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ADDRESS

S & E Trusted Online Directories Inc
TrustedCanada.com
310 Wall St #209
Saskatoon, SK   S7K 1N7
Ph: 306.244.4150

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