Open Making Recommendations

Why would you say that? if a governing body requires you to have a license, you should have to display it, or at the very least have to show it to the moderators to be able to advertise.

 

There is no restriction on having a business account - technically you could have one without a business even.
However I do get your point; but I think it should be on the onus of people using them to ensure that are suitably qualified or licensed for their services. As part of signing up to people's services those things should be checked.
Myself, I don't have a license or belong to a governing body, as my services don't require it.

 

How about a 'dislike' button so that people who have had bad experiences with the recommended business can have a say. The person asking for the recommendation can then pm the person who clicked 'dislike' for details.

I think this thread should be sent to every new member that signs up.

 

This sort of information is easily found on websites and so on where it is a compliance requirement.

I'd hate to have my number on every post - it makes it seem so much more commercial and less personal and that's sad and not conducive to the atmosphere of the forum I don't believe.

I agree that anyone who engages someone via a recommendation should do their due diligence and be comfortable that the person they choose is actually who they say they are - I would have thought that would be obvious but maybe for some people it isn't.

 

As a general society we are not good at asking to actually see things.We assume everything is in order, and qualifications are not fake,an example i read today,bit off topic with the professions, but who would have thought

Google

You hear about people working as nurses,doctors,dentists,the list goes on working without qualifications,back in the dim dark ages when i advertised in the local messenger newspapers, they wanted to see your ABN etc,builders license etc to advertise.

 

Highly open to abuse. That will never happen here.

pinkboy

 

The governing bodies dictate where license numbers need to be displayed.. not up to @Simon Hampel to validate business licensing or compliance. He has enough to deal with already.

 

So tell me why some do it here..in the same profession.........and some do not.

 

Personal preference I expect. I had a few characters spare so I threw it in. Others may not.

 

Im talking overall Dave, im not going to single anyone out.just thought it would be regulated if governing bodies dictate the use.

 

Personally i think it makes the service offered look polished and professional,not something you can just decide to be overnight, and do a startup.

 

In SA, the use of the agents registration number in advertising is legislated under the Land Agents Act 1994 Part 5 (45A). They probably never envisaged having to apply it to forum signatures in my (and other property related roles eg property managers) cases

 

It does give more cred and polish I agree but there is a finite number of characters in signatures and it's pretty easy to run out - took me at least 5 goes to fit everything in.
Then there are memberships to other bodies that also give cred and polish but if we tried to put in licenses, memberships + qualifications there would be nothing but numbers in our sigs. That sort of information could always be put in profile pages for people to look at if they want.

 

I will admit that I have recommended my property manager on a few occasions on this forum purely through my own experiences in dealing with her with my own properties.

Since I have recently taken her on board as a colleague and is now a business member, the line is now blurred with my ability to recommend her from a genuine personal experience perspective or with personal benefit.

In this instance, I support a blanket rule that no business member can recommend other business members. Granted, some recommendations can be from a genuinely helpful nature, but I think the system as is is too open to 'abuse' and the result is that certain business members become favored over others just because they are consistently being recommended and tagged in every thread.

I think it is up to the efforts of each business member to be as actively helpful as possible within the community to boost their own profile organically and if you are referred on this basis, then at least you have "earnt" it

As mentioned several times, recommendations of business members should only come from non business members who have actually used them and they must back it up with their own experiences

On top of this I also think the services directory can be placed in a more prominent position on the forums (near the top?) and if someone is doing a "can someone recommend x service?" we can just point them to the directory and they can make their own contact/do their own research

 

Well I can't support that rule proposal. I actually don't think any business member has ever recommended me but I still don't think that rule is a good idea.
If people put context into a recommendation - including if they receive benefit directly or indirectly - from a recommendation then it makes it clear.
If businesses are consistently being recommended then surely that is because they are a good business and/or they are actively helpful as possible on the forums (as you say)

 

I think if this was the case we would not be having this discussion in the first place

 

@Simon L I have issue with the way a few people refer but I would say 90%+ of the time I take it as a true referral (together with a grain of salt). You seem to have issue mainly in regards to business members referring to business members but the majority of referrals on this site are from non business members and I would say there is very little financial gain, if any, from most referrals.

I actually listen more to a referral from a fellow business person (whether they have a business membership or not) because they are putting their own name on the line when making a referral. If Member X, who is a PM but not a biz members as it's a private account, recommends Member Z/Business Z then I will pay attention to it more as it's a professional opinion.

have you received recommendations on this forum or given recommendations? You are a business member who doesn't post much and is fairly new to your new career. With only 211 posts you might not be getting the full benefit out of your business membership simply because you don't post a lot and get your name out there.

Networking, finding and sharing good referrals, and providing insightful and helpful posts is how many business members on here get recommendations from business and non business members.

As a BA and now PM biz owner I'm sure you have a great list of contacts - settlement agents/conveyancers, building and pest inspectors, lawyers, trades, project managers. I encourage you to post more and share the knowledge you have and that will dilute what you see as people constantly referring the same old people.

 

As a BA, I have no problem with the amount of value I'm getting as a business member, and unfortunately I don't have the time to rack up a large post count. When I do get a chance to chime in, I try to be as constructive and unbiased as possible rather than posting ad nauseum.

Modestly speaking, I do receive a lot of referrals from the forums from both business and non business members despite my low post count. Equally, I give as many referrals to several business members as well consistently as we share mutual clients and I know they are actually good at what they do. Although the referrals are related to PC, most are "off" the forum and via email or in person after a relationship has been established.

Personally, I feel a referral posted by a non business member has more weight due to the fact they (most likely) have zero vested interest other than sharing a great experience.

 

Yep business members recommending other business members should be forbidden. This should be obvious but I'm surprised it's not enforced because it's plain to see it's abused by several members.