Preface and disclaimer
Before we get started with this series, let me make it clear that VendorRate's mission is to help businesses and government organizations reduce risk BEFORE they make IT or telecom purchases. VendorRate highlights vendors with outstanding scores while exposing those vendors with average or poor evaluations. However, while helping vendors increase sales is not our primary objective, it is a by-product of VendorRate's free public scoring system. If a technology vendor receives strong customer satisfaction scores, they earn powerful bragging rights. If a vendor receives average or poor scores, they have not earned the right to brag. All we do is keep score and release results.
Does ChemSW get great PR? Yes!
I just entered "ChemSW customer satisfaction" into Google. Almost every listing in the first 4 pages of organic search results is a form of media release that includes ChemSW . Online media pick ups include the Wall Street Journal, Money, ZDnet, MarketWatch, chemical industry press, plus numerous additional media source and blogs. 95% of media mentions occurred in the last 180 days, and were a direct result of being included in VendorRate's Top Rated Vendor reports.
How did ChemSW get great PR?
First, to make the VendorRate engine work, a B2B IT or telecom company needs "fuel" in the form of ratings. ChemSW proactively reached out to their customer base, asking customers to enter ratings on the VendorRate website. VendorRate is vendor neutral, all ratings are posted confidentially, and good vs. bad rating scores are outside the control the vendor. ChemSW's executive team exhibited the confidence...and courage... to have customer satisfaction scores visible for the world to see.
Second, ChemSW receives stellar ratings from customers of all sizes. ChemSW's customers think they do a great job. They aren't perfect. Comments input during the rating process point out areas that customers believe need improvement. But overall, their customers appear to think ChemSW is outstanding.
Finally, ChemSW's high rating score places them among the top rated vendors . ChemSW scores higher than big B2B brand names with good reputations such as Informix, Dell, VMware and Salesforce.com. VendorRate releases Top Rated Vendors summary reports quarterly and at the end of the year. Results of these reports are released via press releases over standard newswire servicess. In 2008, ChemSW' was regularly listed as one of the highest rated vendors, and the names of top rated vendors are included in the headlines and body of our press releases.
ChemSW's free PR comes from a halo effect of being included in new releases that also include big brand names. Their great PR is a result of being a top rated vendor, not from trying to game the system. Let's be honest. CNN and the Wall Street Journal aren't going to run "ChemSW " articles, but the Chem SW name gets picked up because global media is interested running news about big name brands. ChemSW being named as a top rated vendor also results in media pick ups by their vertical industry press, and they are mentioned in blogs citing VendorRate reports.
Next Up- How ChemSW overcomes lack of brand awareness when answering the first big question "Who are you guys?"
About VendorRate
VendorRate collects ratings about IT and telecom vendors that sell to business, government, education, and non profit organizations Ratings are entered via the web by IT professionals. Rating information is stored in a central database, and vendor scores are available for anyone to to view at no cost via the web. Vendors in similar industries can be compared and ranked as part of an affordable annual subscription service. Visit http://www.vendorRate.com
This shortened link will take you to ChemSW's scorecard on VendorRate. http://adjix.com/4dev If you are a paid subscriber ($149 annually), you can read the rating comments , view rating details, run a vendor comparison, and see first hand how a small company can create a HUGE bang in their industry.
Comments