Wet Wet Wet!

Well the summer has certainly been different this year and a recent trip to Scotland for Judgesmart.com resulted in glorious weather whilst it seems the rest of the country struggled under the sheer weight of water! Our commiserations to anyone affected by any of the floods this year.

So what do we have to report? Well customer numbers remain healthy and a relatively modest but seemingly very successful local advertising campaign is starting to deliver some excellent results, such as this report from Mrs. Kalil:

What a fantastic website-it is designed so nicely, one of the best I have seen I think.
24th July 2007

Who has booked the services of three companies through Judgesmart.com so far. Many thanks for that.

We also received feedback from this very blog last month from Eddy:

I think the judgesmart.com site is a good concept and which normal everyday life is based on i.e. if my friend recommends a shop that sell digital cameras, I will visit them first next time I'm on the lookout for digital cameras. The only issue I have with judgesmart.com is the lack of availability in my area, Manchester for certain things. I guess you just need more people to know about you and therefore recommend services to you!
Comment June Blog

We’ve provided a full response for Eddy in the comments section of last month but we’d like to confirm that this is an excellent point and assure Eddy, and everyone else in this position, that we are making our best endeavors to increase coverage across the UK.

In the mean time you can help us directly by recommending businesses you've used that provided a particularly good service, simply email their name, details of what they do, their number and their address to Customer.Services@Judgesmart.com, or you could sign up to the Judgesmart.com Partner Scheme, more information on which can be found on the bottom right hand side of the Judgesmart.com front page.

Any and all recommendations are welcome.

For now Judgesmart.com will be keeping our fingers crossed for less rain and a proper summer.

All the best,

Chris Barlow
Judgesmart.com

From Acorns

Link to Judgesmart.com

As the summer wears on the growth of Judgesmart.com continues apace. To date we have restricted advertising to use of the Wirral Globe, which has been successful for us so far. However resting on our laurels isn’t our style and so we’re looking to expand our range over the coming months to, for one, a partnership with a well known, and growing, listing site, as well as starting to employ some alternative forms of advertising. Our aim; to grow the brand and general awareness of Judgesmart.com and the services we offer.

In other news the site continues to grow with new channels opening up in Mechanical; listing new providers offering MOTs, tyre changes and general car repairs, as well as additional services in the Handymen department, all providing a better choice for our customers.

On top of that I’m happy to report some great news for one of our service providers, Nealsons Property Management, who ‘win’ the Month’s Best Feedback Award for the following comments left by one happy customer:

"I would definitely use this company again as they were very clean and tidy and did a good job. It was not just plastering I had done, it was also a new ceiling, leveling the floor, plumbing, and electrics."
15 June 2007

So a very big congratulations to Nealsons. This feedback is just one of a growing number of comments and star ratings left by our customers, all of which go on to help future customers identify some of the best providers in the area.

And that rounds up the Blog for this month. As always if you do have any queries please do not hesitate to get in touch with us on customer.services@judgesmart.com.

All the best,

Chris Barlow
Judgesmart.com

One Becomes Three

Glorious is certainly the word of the moment with almost two weeks of uninterrupted sun and a sizzling bank holiday weekend to come. In fact for some of you this weather signals the latest chapter in a rain free April!

Fortunately for us all Judgesmart.com is drought resistant and the month of April saw us venturing into the wonderful world of marketing and advertising unimpeded by the lack of rain. As you’ll have seen from my last blog we had an article included in Mortgage Strategy magazine, a UK wide publication, in early April prompting an encouraging response from mortgage advisors from every corner of the country keen to find out more about the feedback account.

This article heralded the introduction of the Feedback Account bringing the options for businesses looking to advertise on Judgesmart.com to three; the Standard Account, which includes customer generation & management facilities, feedback request and account control options, the Feedback Account, including a customer management and feedback request facility and the Partial Account, a simple online listing free of charge (available in limited numbers only).

We’ve also begun advertising throughout the Wirral and the wider northwest with adverts and a leaflet drop courtesy of the Wirral Globe. Further adverts are planned in this publication and we’ve spoken to a number of other advertising agents in order to expand our exposure over the course of the next few months. So for those of you based on or around the Wirral, watch this space…

And that draws a close to the latest addition of the Judgesmart.com Blog. May I wish you all a very enjoyable May Day and I hope to see you all soon.

James Mackinnon
Judgesmart.com Ltd.

Published

Well doesn’t time fly when you’re working hard! So what’s been going on? Well April is the month for publishing and the following article was published in Mortgage Strategy, week starting 2nd April:

CLIENT SATISFACTION SITE LAUNCHED
Lee Jones - 04-Apr-2007
By Lee Jones

A website has been launched to allow advisers to monitor their customers satisfaction and ensure all aspects of treating customers fairly is applied.

Judgesmart.com provides both customer monitoring and customer generation facilities, requesting feedback from customers using the customer generation facility, as well as allowing account holders to request feedback from customers that have not been generated by the site.

This feedback is then made available to account holders the form of a customer comment and a star rating. The site acts as a tool that allows listed businesses to monitor customer satisfaction levels on a day-to-day basis, identifying both the areas in which they excel as well as any that might need improving.

Paul Grannon, director of GB Financial Consultancy, one of the first companies to sign up to Judgesmart.com, says: “We all know that the client that is recommended off the back of good service is the client we are all looking for, and Judgesmart.com is able to provide us with this customer type.

“On top of that being able to monitor customer satisfaction, regardless of where the customer was sourced, is a really effective tool and one that will be incorporated into our systems and processes for Treating Customers Fairly.”

James Mackinnon, manager of Judgesmart.com, says: “Every business knows that paying attention to customer feedback is of the utmost importance and can give them a crucial edge over their competitors.

"Judgesmart.com allows its members to canvas their customers, and monitor their feedback, quickly and easily on a day-to-day basis.”

This article can be viewed at http://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=139619&d=pnd&h=pndh&f=pndf. Thank you to Mortgage Strategy and to Lee Jones.

All the best for 2007

Well it just goes to show that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. This blog was intended as a Christmas/New Year post but, as is the way of these things, particularly during the ‘merry’ season, that didn’t come to pass. As a result I would like to offer you all a belated Merry Christmas and wish you all the best for the New Year.

So how did Judgesmart.com perform in 2006 and what are our 2007 projections? Well, to start with the chronologically correct side of the New Year; 2006, I am very pleased to report that Judgesmart.com preformed admirably in its first few months of operation. We attracted interest from a wide range of companies and a general feeling of a encouragement from all those introduced to the site. Over the course of November and December we now have full coverage for both England and Wales in the conveyancing sector, financial services covering the Wirral, Chester and Liverpool and interest from providers offering UK wide coverage in a number of other service areas surrounding the sale and purchase of a house in the UK.

So where does this leave us for 2007? Well, as always accompanies a period of rest, relaxation and reflection, ideas have flowed like wine and we have been discussing a number of options with a view to outlining first quarter development and general progression of the site. Again I am very happy to report that, of the ideas discussed, you should shortly be able to see the results of the most promising online. Firstly you should soon see a rapid expansion of the services offered by Judgesmart.com, with short term site growth aimed at the longer term development needs of our customers.

Although I don’t want to give too much away at this stage we will be in a position to start development of Judgesmart.com Phase II by the end of 2007. This development looks set to radically improve the way you interact with the site as well as offering you additional services with the minimum of effort. On top of that we have some exciting areas to explore towards the middle of 2007 vastly expanding the usefulness and coverage offered by Judgesmart.com.

In addition to development of even more useful features and services the board has decided that, in line with our company policy, a proportion of the profit generated by Judgesmart.com will be directed back towards charitable courses and enhancement of the development of new businesses. We will be looking for a charity with whom we can work over the course of the next few months and I will keep you all updated as this progresses.

So for now it’s onwards into 2007. The challenges are great but we here at Judgesmart.com are looking forward to taking them on.

Until next month all the best,

James Mackinnon
Judgesmart.com

Progress Update

The internet is certainly an exciting place to work at the moment. Every week that passes a new idea or opportunity seems to present itself and the potential held by the site grows with it. From partnerships with new and exciting sites, to the use of Blogs like this to keep in touch, to the ideas that sites like MySpace and YouTube promote, although these don't immediately suggest opportunities they seed the internet with the ideas. From small acorns great oak trees grow, and that is the only time we'll describe MySpace and YouTube as acorns!

What this means in practice is that the site has a bright future, it will get even easier to use, even more versatile and quicker than ever with an ever expanding number of useful features. We don’t want to give too much away of course but we can tell you that we're looking at a very exciting opportunity at the moment at the cutting edge of technology.

As always the proof of the pudding is in the eating so watch this space. As for this week’s progress, we have a meeting with our software & site development team and, having recently met with the mighty Ruth Badger (star of the Apprentice), have a meeting with another local web entrepreneur soon, which is great.

We'll see you all soon online. All the best,

James Mackinnon
Judgesmart.com Ltd.

Good Progress

You could say its funny...but actually I guess its not that funny, when you start out on an endeavour such as this there is always a lingering question mark hanging over whether or not it's going to work, whether its going to be of interest to people and, even if it is, whether or not you can get any businesses to sign up.

Following last week however we are very glad to say that those feelings appear to be distinctly unfounded. Its been a busy week, which included an unearthly early morning start...5 o'clock in the morning no less...but overall the week really has begun to calm any feelings of unease as, almost without exception, we've been on the receiving end of warm responses from the businesses we have spoken to.

Following one good week we are certainly planning for another and that's just the way it seems to be shaping up. Some encouraging discussions with businesses have been made already and the service base is growing, although I would hasten to add that there are no live businesses up there just yet, these things do take time. The important message for you; we're not that far off being able to provide all you home buyers with access to a range of quality services you may need in the process of buying and moving from your old house and settling into your new one.

In the interests of keeping the number of words in this blog down I shall sign off there. Thank you to everyone we have spoken to over the development of this business, all those who have helped design, build and test the site and all the best to those who have yet to sail in her.

I look forward to 'seeing' you all online soon,

James Mackinnon
Judgesmart.com Ltd.