Reproducing Letters For The Web

[Jason]

I could use a little advice... even in the age of the Interweb, our dealerships still get quite a few hand written thank you notes & cards from our customers each month. A discussion has recently started on how we can use these items online which has brought up a couple of questions we need answered.

First off, let me say that reproducing these letters and posting them on a review site is NOT under consideration. We simply want to scan them and host them on our web-site(s). This begs the question:

Q: Legally, do we need express written consent from the author to scan and host that letter or card online?
A: ???

Q: If no personal information is contained in the posting, would we still need permission?
A: ???

Q: Does anyone do this and do you have examples online that I can take a look at?
A: ????

In my opinion the best practice would be to call the customer and get their consent. They took the time to write us a nice letter after all, so why would they be opposed to us sharing it online?

My concern about not asking for permission even if we take out all personal information would be that if discovered we could be sued for using their IP without consent to profit. Maybe a long-shot, but then again, I'm no high-falutin legal type either

I appreciate any A's to my Q's - Thanks for the help!

 

[Jan_c]

Here's an idea. (click Customer Testimonials button)

The visual of real handwriting has big impact. No names. And, no dates...

Driving Directions To Skagit Ford - Burlington, WA

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Here's an idea. (click Customer Testimonials button)

The visual of real handwriting has big impact. No names. And, no dates...

Driving Directions To Skagit Ford - Burlington, WA

Jan, if you are referring to this page http://www.skagitford.com/burlington-ford-testimonials - IMO this has little impact. Almost looks fake to me since it's only a small portion of "some" review.

I don't know - it's not speaking to me as a consumer. But that's me.

If I were to take this approach, I would want to include the full letter / letter head and the customers name. While of course obtaining consent from the consumer.

Who do others think of this tactic... Yeah or Nah?

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Q: Legally, do we need express written consent from the author to scan and host that letter or card online?

A: Not sure about the legal side but I would cover myself and get it anyways. I know many dealers post these throughout the dealership, and I'm sure was was no consent provided. One would think if a customer was willing to write a letter, that alone would be sufficient.

Q: If no personal information is contained in the posting, would we still need permission?

A: I would say no but how much weight would it provide?

In my opinion the best practice would be to call the customer and get their consent. They took the time to write us a nice letter after all, so why would they be opposed to us sharing it online?

One would assume.


I say keep it straight. Get permission for anything like this. Cover all bases.

 

[yagoparamo]

Jan, if you are referring to this page http://www.skagitford.com/burlington-ford-testimonials - IMO this has little impact. Almost looks fake to me since it's only a small portion of "some" review.

I don't know - it's not speaking to me as a consumer. But that's me.

If I were to take this approach, I would want to include the full letter / letter head and the customers name. While of course obtaining consent from the consumer.

Who do others think of this tactic... Yeah or Nah?

Agreed and IMO by adding an image instead of the actual text it hinders its potential SEO value.

Notice that you call it "customer testimonials" when customers nowadays don't care for testimonials, they are looking for reviews.

 

[Jan_c]

Good, obvious points. Using identities with permissions (Jeff) and text for SEO (Yago) is optimal. However, if there wasn't a grand strategy to start ("sure would be nice to do something with all those great ____ in that box over there") then a page like this does the trick for no $.

BTW, IMO, handwriting in all sorts of styles, grammar, etc looks real to me. Like, "fine young man" in that shaky print just looks like my grandma's Christmas card and I'm glad the nice man took care of her.

 

[bzweifel]

Who do others think of this tactic... Yeah or Nah?

Jeff, I really wanted to like it but it just didn't pull me in. I can't really say a reason why I don't like it other than "it looks weird to me". Maybe including full letter head and a customer name would make it look less foreign to me.


... I took a second glance at the website to try to understand why I don’t like it. It reminds me of the snippets on movie cases that say “Thrilling!” “Truly a great piece of work” . Reviews are supposed to tell stories, I love stories. These don’t have any stories, just sentences without substance. What did they buy? What salesmen? What questions did they have? How did the dealer exceed their expectations? All of these questions are left unanswered. Maybe it’s not the handwriting that I don’t like, it might be the lack of substance caused by the small box on the questionnaire.

 

[ryan.leslie]

It reminds me of the snippets on movie cases that say “Thrilling!” “Truly a great piece of work” . Reviews are supposed to tell stories, I love stories. These don’t have any stories, just sentences without substance. What did they buy? What salesmen? What questions did they have? How did the dealer exceed their expectations? All of these questions are left unanswered. Maybe it’s not the handwriting that I don’t like, it might be the lack of substance caused by the small box on the questionnaire.

The brevity is likely because it is written in the dealership. I don't want to be beating the same drum, but I see the same thing in Places reviews with an in-store collection strategy. To me, it's a great sign that the customer isn't truly ready to write, so they give a quick "nothing was horrible" type response. I just don't think you will see the stories and "quality responses" with an in-store collection method. I do prefer this to in-store collection on a digital property though because the handwriting differences prove authenticity.

I think it was AJ that posted the "review wall" of letters that had come in to the store. I think that is a great use of the handwritten notes and one of the few times that quantity makes up for quality.