We'd need to be careful about potential liability issues - firstly from people thinking that these are recommendations or endorsements (even if they clearly aren't), and secondly from potentially libellous comments that people may make.
Not saying it can't be done - just saying it's not as easy as it seems
Sim -
There used to be a sort of 'Who Does It' facility accessible from the Home Page at one time / in one version. Not many people actually listed themselves in it - the last time I checked for it was about three years ago.
When I had the child care centre I set aside a section of the main notice board for parents to post up their business cards. You know, warm & fuzzy, community action board, that type of thing.
Mike and I used one of the parents' services - he was a bricklayer - to build a garage. Yep, that was a great idea! Never heard of a spirit level, perhaps the only spirits were those he ingested. Then he charged us eight hours for watching the concrete floor set, then he barged around demanding payment. All in all, after that I took down all the business cards, put up a few posters in the blank spaces and adopted a low profile with regards to who did what.
Camel, good service, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Good service also cuts both ways - you may be a great customer for your bookkeeper - always have everything ready, find them easy to deal with, they have built up a good relationship with you, you think they're terrific.
Someone else goes to the bookkeeper you like so much and doesn't like them at all. That someone else is totally disorganised and isn't wanting a bookkeeper, they are wanting a Mother. Your bookkeeper isn't into Mothering so the two do not have common expectations of the encounter.
You get my drift.
Professionally, I come across a lot of people who 'do things'. However, unless I have personally experienced their level of service I can not possibly say 'Joe Blow is a great building inspector' unless I have engaged Joe Blow myself. I can, of course, say 'Joe Blow is a building inspector and is apparently experienced in Nissan huts, you may care to get a quote from him for your next job', and that is hardly a recommendation.
Personally, I think we can be far too quick to 'recommend' someone to do something. A recommendation actually joins us in the action. I make it very clear to my customers that I can recommend no-one, and if they are looking for a conveyancer or building inspector or whatever they may care to include Joe Blow in their ring around, and this is why they may care to include them. Further than that could be taken as urging and as my customers are adults it would be inappropriate for me to urge them to do anything.
So while a directory listing may sound like a good idea in theory, in practise it can be fraught with problems. It is often best for people to find their own Nissan hut inspector.
Cheers
Kristine
