I have previously posted a BLOG entitled – Social Media Rethink – April 2018 (http://www.roslynsrants.com/?p=398)

This takes the comments from that BLOG further, as, once again, during a face to face interview, I was, albeit, very politely asked why our company does not have a Digital Presence, the candidate and several of his friends had a conversation about the veracity of our existence, given our absence of any kind of Digital Presence.

It is fascinating that today with the explosion of online everything, that no can actually step back, THINK, and consider that, if KNOWING that over 50% of what we see online is FAKE, why we would question someone who does not wish to be present. From over 60% of Linkedin Resumes being fake, over 800 fake online University Degrees ( see CBC Marketplace Report) an extremely high percentage of Facebook postings being fake, FAKE NEWS, much from Russia, which severly influenced the 2016 US Presidential Election, Millenials posting selfies in the entryway to high end stores, posh restaurants, going into high end boutiques and posing with the merchandise just long enough to take a selfie….

We see companies with spectacular web sites, proclaiming their vast international experience, only to dig and find out it is one man in his basement who has been fired from absolutely every position he has ever held. His Social Presence however, is extraordinary. His web site was magic.

We see companies proclaiming their incredible technical experience, in one case, I actually printed the Linkedin resumes of the entire company (ten people)…..then laid them out on a table, side by side…there was something bothering me……they were ALL IDENTICAL…….including the President. Furthermore, no one was over 30 years old. But on the Corporate Web Site, they spoke of their huge list of clients, turns out it was the previous employers of the employees……NOTHING was real. One questions the fact that NO ONE else ever did even a minor amount of research on them, yet one of my previous clients actually hired them. No, they could not deliveer. But they did pay their invoices……Seriously??!!

Virtually EVERY individual who has questioned our lack of Digital Presence has been an employee within a large corporation, and non have ever owned a company, or considered why one would not wish to be all over the web.

As a long time female business owner, let me describe the horrors of a DIGITAL Presence.

We work in a very defined, very technical segment of the industry. We do HIGH end Information Technology Consulting and Search, and only work with individuals with experience, a high level of education, and in many cases, Security Clearance. Our business was built on WORD of MOUTH. Why could we possibly be interested in receiving over 100 resumes from some low level computer institute pushing out low level computer repair men?? We are NOT.
But we used to receive them en masse, and had to respond, politely.
We are not interested in Plumbers, Cegep Graduates with no experience, people who have held 10 jobs in 3 years……..computer technicians, repair men……..
And then there are the people who would arrive at the door, pound and kick at the door of our offices, and absolutely terrify our Secretary.
Shall I continue??

People who call on the telephone, are aggressive, rude, insulting, and insist that the female on the other end of the phone line, give them what they are requesting, whether it is an interview, the name and direct phone number of the executives…it is endless……

But when someone is desperate for a job, all sense of decency and courtesy seems to fly out the door…….

Endless solicitations by email, mail, and telephone by aggressive, often condescending sales people, most of whom do not have the good manners to even inquire whether it is a good time before pushing themselves and whatever product they have decided we require. They overtalk and are extremely beligerent to the female on the other end of the line, never for a moment presuming that the woman they are being rude to is actually the President and decision maker.

I can continue endlessly, as our experiences have been far from pleasant.

One mind numbingly rude salesman called 10 times, insisting on being given the name and mobile number of the President. I politely inquired as to how I could help him. He screamed insults at me and hung up repeatedly, only to call back and once again hear my voice on the end of the line. He rudely told me I should provide the information and not question him. I repeatedly asked politely as to how I could help him. He repeatedly insulted me and hung up.
Finally, I asked a male associate to watch for the number on call display, and to answer his next call. I requested that he demand the caller’s name, company, and phone number. He Did. Then he passed the caller to me. I recorded the call. When he was speaking to the male, he was polite, calm and provided his information with no objections. He was then put on hold and referred to me. Yup, President and Founder of Copeland, St James…..No sooner than I said hello and he started insulting me once again. At this point, I used his name, and advised him that he was insulting the President, NOT the Receptionist. I advised him that my next call would be to his employer at which time I would play the recording of this beligerent person and tell them, that under no conditions whatsoever, were they to ever call our company again. Yes, I did exactly that. No, he never called again.
The problem with this, is that he disrupted our business day, he disrupted several people, and this time was NOT spent on running our business.

Our Company was bombarded by phone, email, mail, and people coming to the door. NON of them ever took the time to consider who they were soliciting and whether or not we could possibly be interested in their services or products.
We were solicited by low level personnel agencies, companies selling paper products, life insurance, financial planning, light bulbs, travel services, accounting services, payroll services, web development companies, hardware repair men, the list was endless. ALL of which took away our time from actually providing services to OUR clients.

Time is MONEY.
Being polite to rude people takes time and money.
Being polite and responding to 500 people who have sent unsolicited resumes takes time and money.
Answering the door and trying to explain to the hardware repair man, the plumber , the accounting clerk, that we are not interested in their services takes time and money.
Having to call the Doorman to come and physically remove the rude person kicking and pounding on our front door not only creates extreme anxiety, but also costs time and money , not to mention endless tips to the poor Doorman who were, at times, threatened by these unwanted visitors.

For all these reasons, and many more, we DO NOT have a Digital Presence.