Complaint Review: Continental Who's Who - Valley Stream New York

REVIEW UPDATE: December 10, 2018 : Continental Who’s Who remains committed to increased customer satisfaction and has improved their business practices over the years to better serve their customers. Continental Who’s Who is truly dedicated to making sure their customers are satisfied and that any complaints which do arise are addressed promptly and fairly.

To date, Continental Who’s Who has made good faith efforts to resolve all complaints reported on Ripoff Report. Based on our experience, the member business has proven to be among the top members of the Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program as a Verified Safe Business™.

Over time and since becoming a member, Continental Who’s Who has remained actively engaged and improving the way they address customer service complaints. As an active and current member of the Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program we are happy to report that now more than ever Continental Who’s Who remains committed to improving customer satisfaction.

Remember, no company or individual can ever satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time. There are no products or services that will always be perfect for everyone and even the best companies will receive complaints from time to time. However, by participating in the Corporate Advocacy Program, the member business has made a commitment to working with its customers to resolve complaints quickly and fairly whenever possible.

Please keep in mind that as a consumer you have some responsibilities as well. Success has many definitions that based on your past experiences, current situation and your perceived expectations. Success with any product or service is always based on the proper application and understanding. The fastest car will not run if you never turn the engine on. Look at how you used the product or service that was provided in relation with the instructions that you received. The Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program will help you get your voice heard but please be prepared with documentation and fair representation of your concern, also have an idea of how the company can fix your concern. Can they offer additional services, extend warranties, offer a fair refund or just get you talking with someone that can help. ..let them know and let us know!

*Any consumer not receiving satisfaction from a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program should email us at [email protected].

Ripoff Report Verified™ REVIEW

EDitor's UPDATE: Positive rating and recognition has been given to Continental Who’s Who for its full commitment to quality customer service.

Ripoff Report's discussions with Continental Who's Who have uncovered an ongoing dedication by the company to total client satisfaction. This means that clients can expect that the company will work towards finding a mutually satisfactory resolution to any concerns. Continental Who's Who listens carefully to client concerns and sees them as an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and become more efficient as a company in the services offered and the support for those services.

Continental Who's Who has informed us that it's clients success are the heart of the business. As a successful business, Continental Who's Who feels it is critical to listen to its clients and respond properly. By always putting its customers first, Continental Who's Who hopes to maintain a successful enterprise both now and for many years to come. Kyle Madison, Executive Director told us that Continental Who's Who's business philosophy is based on the premise that "strives to add value in service, understanding that a successful business model is based on value-added services, and client care". Kyle says, "We are one of the top networking forums for helping professionals and executives understand their own brands. With us, you'll always receive a complex and customized approach to branding that comes from a team who consistently borrows strategies from large brands and adapts them to fit the financial needs of small businesses all over the world.”



One of the things Ripoff Report learned in the course of its review is that typical customer feedback reads, "Continental Who's Who truly communicate all aspects of the service in a timely and effective manner. We are very pleased with the responsiveness that the employees show us. They are serious about meeting commitments, and deliver on their promises.”

Some of the many services offered by The Continental Who's Who are mentioned below.

"No matter who or where your audience is, Continental Who's Who delivers your news announcements in the fastest, most comprehensive and cost-effective way available. Wire distribution is comprised of satellite, land line or Internet delivery directly into information systems of tens of thousands of media outlets worldwide, plus posting on thousands of Web sites that carry member copy, including their media-only Web site, which is accessible by more than 80,000 registered journalists.

The Continental Who's Who Registry of National Business Leaders Hardcover Volume lists thousands of successful individuals in the fields of Business, the Arts and Sciences, Law, Engineering and Government throughout the upper echelon of corporate America with their pertinent data. This is an invaluable reference and networking tool, the ultimate in independent recognition. Provides expanded business information, unavailable elsewhere on all of our respected members.

A new Member appearing in our publication can receive the coveted Continental Who's Who wall plaque, a rich and elegant exhibit inscribed with your name- which also incorporates the Continental Who's Who seal. This distinguished plaque is seen on the walls of the most influential individuals which convey to your existing and potential clients that you are someone with whom they want to do business with.

Continental Who's Who puts you, in the loop by providing an introduction to other achievers in your area of expertise and then offering unique opportunities to interface globally, the ability to meet and network online. Each new member can receive a screen name and pass code to network online and upload photographs and video to their existing online profiles.

More than 1.5 million people pass through Times Square in a day - imagine the power of your image potentially reaching that many consumers! Through CWW's partnerships you can post your image on the Reuters digital billboard in Time Square and a image thumbnail will appear on more than 1,000 websites, including: LA Times, ABC Television affiliates, Yahoo! and Market Watch.

Display of the image on the Reuters digital billboard in Times Square Images are displayed on the billboard during the morning or afternoon rush hours, Monday - Friday.

The story headline is also displayed with the image (up to 100 characters) You receive a screen shot of your image on the billboard (what a powerful visual!) It is a prime location, occupying the entire Southwest corner of Times Square, and it faces traffic!

An image can be anything - a logo, a headshot, a product-in-action shot. With your next press release, include a jpeg file (at least 200 dpi and 9 inches on the longest side) For this special, send us an email and request the Internet Photo Distribution.

CWW's Magazine for High Achieving Business Professionals

Caters to elite business executives and entrepreneurs. We strive to provide professionals with up-to-date information regarding innovative business practices, high-end products, and advice from reliable professional peers.



As fellow members of the professional community, it is our mission to create a forum rich in content which enables our clients to get the most out of their executive experience. Continental Who's Who is proud to serve the diverse needs of our influential client base as well as partner in creating lasting business relationships through our professional network. Continental Who's Who is continuously growing and evolving its practice to serve as an innovative information source for the elite professional community, and we hope that you will join us in our mission.”


Ripoff Report Verified™ .. part of Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program.A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business..

The information provided in this report below is based on comments made by Ken McCarthy during an onsite inspection held by a third party verification company with no biases toward Continental Who's Who.

Continental Who's Who provides a unique service to businesses and individuals by creating platforms for businesses to network. President Ken McCarthy further explained the vision of the company by stating, "our clients...do business, exchange ideas, and work with each other. We provide the platform for them to do so." The Continental Who's Who registry of clients is available in three different formats: online, hardcover, and CD-ROM. This variety allows for clients to connect, feature their professional reference tool in a public area, as well as access the resources offline.

Leads for Continental Who's Who are obtain through several different venues. Individuals can find their resources on their website, through social networks like Linkedin, as well as word of mouth, "our own clients can refer their individual clients." They also have a research team that focuses their attention on reaching out to potential clients who they believe would be a good fit for their program. Once the initial interest has been made, potential clients will schedule an appointment to go over their biographical information, and well as go over the various programs that they have available to them, "we give them options in terms of if they want to become a participating member, which is a fee based program. If not we also have a basic listing which is free of charge; no cost or obligation on their part.”

CUSTOMER CARE & COMPLAINT RESOLUTION FROM CONTINENTAL WHO’S WHO

During the onsite interview Mr. McCarthy was asked to describe a situation where a client was not satisfied with the level of service they received. Mr. McCarthy explained that occasionally a client will not be satisfied with the outcome of their public biography. When a situation like this arises Mr. McCarthy explained, "it's our job as editors here to work with the client member to give them the opportunity to update their file. So we'll go back to the drawing board and revamp it...we resolve that issue by going back to the drawing board, and send out various write ups for them [the client] to approve." Putting the clients needs first, and ensuring there is various modes of communication has led to positive results for Continental Who's Who.

When asked to comment on complaints posted on Ripoff Report's website Mr. McCarthy explained that the comments on the website had been resolved in some manner, "I've gone through them [comments] with a fine tooth comb, many of the individuals who post issues were resolved with them prior to them even making the posting." Mr. McCarthy ensures future and current clients that Continental Who's Who is a quality business. He offers the rebuttal that often times because of the various companies that also have the words 'who's who' in their title, his company can be lumped in to categories of businesses that he has no relation too that may have poor business practices, "in regard to our company's name the words 'who's who' have become synonymous with individuals achievements…Continental Who’s Who has been established since 1994…we do have competitors who operate under a similar title…those companies I can’t vouch for them, I don’t know how ethical they are, I don’t know their business practices. However, they’ve changed their names multiple times often times creating a black eye for the words ‘who’s who’.” It should be noted that Continental Who's Who has an A+ rating with the BBB.

Continental Who's Who is proud to be a part of Ripoff Reports Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program. Mr. McCarthy stated, " I think it's great that they have the CAP program in place. It gives a company like ours or other organizations the opportunity to remedy any outstanding complaints they have against them. If you close a loophole it can only make the system stronger, and by doing that it keeps everything moving.”



CONTINENTAL WHO’S WHO – MISSION & VISION STATEMENTS

"We are one of the top networking forums for helping professionals and executives understand their own brands. With us, you'll always receive a complex and customized approach to branding that comes from a team who consistently borrows strategies from large brands and adapts them to fit the financial needs of small businesses all over the world.”

Mission Statement

The mission of Continental Who's Who's Customer Service function is to always convey a passion for the customer and to consistently deliver the best service experience.

Vision Statement

Delivering Customer Satisfaction is about providing timely, responsive service with integrity, simplicity and a passion for excellence while meeting or exceeding the customer’s expectations

Statement of Work

Customer Service is any activity provided by a Continental Who's Who employee that enhances the ability of a customer to realize the full potential value of a Continental Who's Who product or service before and after the sale is made, thereby leading to Customer Satisfaction and repurchase.

Customer Service Principles

• Recognize the importance of all customers and the role every Continental Who's Who employee plays in influencing the customer's perceptions. While impacting these perceptions, be professional, reliable, credible, responsive and friendly.
• Communicate promptly and honestly and via the customers’ choice of medium. Try to be brief and clear.
• Be a voice for the customer. When rules and policies don’t make sense to our customer, challenge the way Continental Who's Who does business and seek opportunities for improvement.
• When a problem arises, which is inevitable, view the problem as an opportunity to improve. Solving problems will enable us to raise the quality of our products and services.
• Listen well, be responsive and demonstrate a sense of urgency. Understand that how something is said has a significant influence on how it is received. Under promise and over deliver.
• Strive to make it easy for the customer to do business with Continental Who's Who to ensure that Continental Who's Who remains its preferred supplier.

S E R V I C E:

Selfless: We will be attentive to customer requests, regardless of other priorities. We will demonstrate our abilities through our appearance, conduct, conversation and results.

Ethical: We will act with integrity and a sense of duty and obligation to our customers and will always be accountable for our actions.

Respectful: We will treat our customers as we wish to be treated and ensure that every interaction is conducted in a pleasant and professional manner.

Versatile: We will be resourceful and capable of performing a variety of tasks in order to get the job done, regardless of our job description.

Innovative: We will identify ways to continuously improve our processes and policies to meet the ever-changing needs of the community and our customers. We will welcome customer feedback as a means to improve the services we provide.

Communication: We will actively listen to our customers and respond in a clear and concise manner. We will communicate through available resources, providing accurate information in a manner that is easy to understand.

Encouraging: We will support employee creativity and teamwork to promote an open and collaborative work environment that encourages employees to excel in every aspect of their job - including customer service.

Continental Who's Who's team have expressed that they feel very confident doing their job. Some have worked at Continental Who's Who for over 15 years focusing on a lot of branding material; Whether it be on creating a strong global image to their websites, magazines or publications along with brochures. The consensus is that doing your job and working on what you love day in and day out is amazing where as many feel inspired every day excelling in an environment where everyone loves what they’re doing and are always willing to lend a hand. They seem proud to be part of such a fast-growing company. The innovative approach here is reflected in the value and credibility the company lends to its members. The people here are motivated and collaborative like their mission, which is to recognize and acknowledge key talent.

Continental Who's Who takes employee satisfaction seriously as well. Employee feedback and surveys reveal comments such as this, "takes employee satisfaction seriously as well. Employee feedback and surveys reveal comments such as this, "Continental Who's Who provides a very positive environment to work. Opportunities for suggestions and improvements are encouraged. As Continental Who's Who values our contribution to the company and providing growth opportunities for us. They take the time to listen and communicate with employees and customers.”

Continental Who's Who strives to find the best ways to educate and motivate its staff. Here is an article written by William Frierson discussing How to make an employee feel valued and motivated. "Contrary to popular opinion, employees are not necessarily motivated by position, power, or prosperity. Instead, the highest order of incentives come from raising employee self-esteem and offering work that stimulates a sense of self-actualization. In many businesses, office problems arise because of a high turnover rate due to front-line managers and supervisors not being aware of how to provide employees with meaningful work incentives. Proprietary office staffing offers the ability to strategically recruit employees at all levels of management. The Psychology of Motivation As an employer, seeking to find valuable office and administrative employees, there are many ways to motivate employees to do their best work every day. In fact, there has been a tremendous amount of research done on the psychology of motivating employees. For example, research has shown that employees are highly motivated when their manager personally congratulates them for ar job well-done or when their manager has written a personal note of congratulations. Of these two forms of congratulations, the direct spoken words of the manager ranks higher than the indirect written words.

7 Ways to Make Employees Feel Valued Additionally, here are 7 more ways to bring out the value in employees:

1. Employees work harder and more diligently when their boss gets to know them and actually asks what they value and what motivates them.
2. Employees respond well to being praised when caught in the process of doing a good job and publicly acknowledged for it. Conversely, the biggest disincentive is one that is commonly seen in offices–managers criticizing employees in public instead of giving them constructive criticism in private.
3. Employees like to see themselves as partners rather than as mere cogs in a machine. This sense of partnership is created when employees are asked about their career goals and are then given work that matches these specified goals.
4. Employees appreciate being educated in the skills they need to learn to do their job better. Learning about how to do things better at their jobs makes employees feel that they are valuable assets to the business.
5. Employees like to be invited to share the company’s big picture goals. This can be as simple as managers informing employees about the company’s vision and the problems it is facing. Employees feel motivated when they believe they are playing an important role in the solution. 6. Employees enjoy professional development and skills training if they feel that they are personally benefiting from it.
6. Employees are actually not motivated by monetary rewards alone, unless these are offered in a sparing way and accompanied by feedback on what they did to deserve the compensation. Monetary rewards work best when correlated with personal recognition for improving the company.”

Ripoff Report was pleased to learn that Continental Who's Who's past and current approach to business is focused on its pledge to total commitment towards client and employee satisfaction.



CONTINENTAL WHO’S WHO – STATEMENTS FROM A MEMBER

"Continental Who's Who earns a Gold Star: Continental Who's Who has become a leader in their industry and what I have gained from speaking with executives there is a feeling of fortitude and resilience that has seemed to all but vanish in recent years. The face of the world economy has changed no longer recognizable and it is Continental Who's Who that is emerging as something that can only be described as welcoming. CWW has been enabling many to climb out of the ashes and back to their rightful place among the Who's Who of business executives. As I spoke to Diane a representative from Continental Who's Who, I asked her what sets CWW aside from other Media Outlets as she explained, " In today's marketplace what our studies have shown is that it is about creating partnerships and relationships and we have done just that, we have taken great strides in our web site's database development as well as the organizations we are now aligning ourselves with, this we plan to share with our members. You can look at it as the old cliche states; One hand washes the other and two hands wash the face! " I then asked when dealing with some of the most astute individuals many people we have all heard about read about or seen on T.V. what pitfalls have to be overcome to maintain a high level of commitment and excellence. Diane stated, " We obviously have to screen each member prior to inclusion and being that we are member funded we need to make sure that we choose only those individuals that are proactive in our public relations approach. This can be sometimes difficult because cost versus value is gauged through someone's prospective point of view. However we maintain a high level of quality and commitment to each one of our members and providing a forum where they can consult, exchange ideas and do business with each other. After speaking with Diane what she was saying really resonated with me. What I got from it was that in order for us to prosper and not just tread water we need to unite and combine our skills and this is what Continental Who's Who has done for this in my opinion they have earned a gold star. I anticipate great things over the next few years from this Media mogul and will keep you all posted.” ~ John M

STATED IMPROVEMENTS FROM CONTINENTAL WHO’S WHO

Continental Who's Who recognizes that complaints posted on Ripoff Report (whether true or not) are issues that need to be addressed, not ignored. If handled correctly, complaints can be valuable learning opportunities. With the feedback generated by Ripoff Report's review, Continental Who's Who has made organizational changes allowing its clients and employees a more streamlined approach to problem resolution and a commitment to a great client experience.

In summary, after our review, which included discussions with Continental Who's Who they have stated, "We must accept responsibility for complaints filed against us regardless if some reports could be simple mudslinging; as for those that are not it means we failed to satisfy our clients and or their specific needs and that could rely heavily on why they felt the need to post to the ROR. We have worked tremendously on training our staff to work with and handle customer/clients satisfaction; address their needs and or requests. When someone has an issue our best approach is to diffuse the situation and work to an agreement so that both parties are able to come to a amicable resolve. Given the opportunity we will always accommodate our clients' needs and work with them to come to an understanding by recognizing the difference between fault and responsibility, we can eschew the blame game and take ownership of difficult problems. Finally, by owning a problem and taking action, we can help others." Ripoff Report is convinced that Continental Who's Who is committed to quality delivery of services resulting in total client satisfaction.

Read more about why consumers should feel confident when doing business with a member of Ripoff Report's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. Yes, it’s a long name for a program that does a lot for both consumers and businesses alike.

Read about Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program, a program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business. This program works.

As a matter of policy, when a business becomes a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program they agree to allow Ripoff Report to contact every client who filed a complaint so they can make things right with them. In order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, Ripoff Report is copied on all responses so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer.

NOW TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT THAT WAS FILED

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