It’s been a while since my last post on Yell.com, but I think it’s important that I post a balanced update on the outcome, as well as some tips you might like to take note of if you are meeting a Yell representative to talk about advertising.

The crux of my issue with Yell was this:

The key selling point, for me, was that the page I was advertising on ( ‘Internet Web Design & Development’ in the Reading area) was apparently receiving 414 views a month.

Having spoken to a very helpful lady at Yell I’m informed that the figure that I thought was for the Reading & Newbury area (414 views a month) was actually the figure for national viewings of the advert. There was clearly a misunderstanding as I believed that when I asked to be provided with the viewing figures for the advert I would be placing I was given the figure for the national average, and not the average local to my Reading area.

In my discussions with Yell they did give me screenshot of a slide – that they say I saw during their sales pitch to me – explaining that the national figures were 414 per month on average. Though I concede that I may well have been shown that slide, it’s clear to me that I came away from that pitch expecting 414 views per month for my advert. I had the sales person write down what I could expect each month, and they had written 414 views per month.

It is important for me to stress here that I don’t believe that there was any deliberate trickery on the part of Yell. There was a misunderstanding. However, I do know that I came away from signing a contract expecting something that I did not get. And I know in my own mind that had I truly realised that an advert of the like I was taking out got only 414 views on a national basis, I would have made polite excuses and ran for the hills taking my budget with me.

I’m happy to say that after my conversation with Yell they have both cancelled my advert and refunded the money I invested, which I think was probably the only fair and equitable outcome to be had out of the situation.

But it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth and it speaks volumes for the client service of Yell that after e-mailing my account handler and using a separate contact form to raise my issues, I had to pursue them in public via Facebook, Twitter and a blog post before I got an actual response – though when the response did come it was very helpful and straightforward.

I’m also disappointed because, you know, I wanted the advertising to work. Having spoken to a number of people who have advertised with Yell.com I’m unhappy to report that none have given me any positive feedback on the experience, and considering the sums of money involved, that must surely reflect badly upon Yell.

In part, and admittedly in retrospect after discussions with other Yell advertisers, I would say that Yell.com is perhaps not the best platform for business-to-business advertising, and that it is more specialised for business-to-consumer advertising.

Everybody and every company is individual. I’m not saying you should not sign up to Yell, perhaps you have good reasons to give it a try, and maybe there are organisations out there that have made a good return on their investment, but consider the following three tips I have to offer if you are tempted to advertise with Yell.

Firstly, I would recommend that you absolutely nail down whoever is selling you the advertising to how many views your particular advert will receive each month, at least on average. Not the national figure, but the figure that you can expect to receive after you sign the contract. If the sales person cannot give an answer to that question then it’s not unreasonable to ask why you should pay large sums of money to an organisation with amazing technology at its disposal, but which cannot reasonably show what it can do in return for that money.

Secondly, don’t sign up for a long contract initially. If Yell and/or the salesperson is serious about the value that Yell offers then they should give you a trial period of, say, three months. If I had done this and properly scrutinised the results after three months then I would not have carried on spending my advertising budget with Yell.

Thirdly, set realistic goals for what you want to achieve from advertising with Yell. More visits to your website? More phone calls? Whatever the goals are keep them in mind and if you don’t reach them make a conscious choice to either stop using Yell, or else admit that you are not getting the return you were expecting but that the return you are getting is enough. Don’t get caught in the limbo between these two outcomes.

Personally, I know that I’d rather spend my time blogging for various other sites which, from my experience, appears to generate at least as much interest in my website and services as did spending thousands with Yell.