I had an all-too-rare experience yesterday. I went to the TNT web site to check on a delivery and saw there was a delay. I needed to know if the box was to be delivered before the next day (it was already a day late) so I clicked on the "contact us" link, which was easy to find at the top right of the site. I filled out the info, submitted and got an auto-ack from them saying "someone will contact you...".

What I expected from years of experience on the web

An email quoting all the data I entered on the form and a final line saying "Entered on web site", followed by a line added by an employee saying "You can find tracking information on our web site."

What actually happened

Within an hour, a human being phoned, explained that there had been a routing error (this was noted on the site) and gave me an honest estimate of delivery. "Probably not today."

So, because of a routing error, my package from Shanghai will be 2 days late; why am I pleased with this company? Because errors happen, service doesn't. A rapid and honest answer to a query is something you don't get in this day and age. Look at your bank. In this country, they don't even have tellers anymore, just people who point you to the ATM. Many banks have surcharged numbers if you need to talk to someone. When you pay for service, whether it's transport, banking, phone, electricity, part of the service is... well, service.

Consultants have the hardest job in the world.

Why? Well, the work is often based on trying to help someone audit, improve or fix their work. The first step in fixing something is realizing it needs to be fixed, which means we have to criticize. However constructive, criticism isn't easy. A good advisor will always try to explain in detail the basis for decisions concerning content and strategy.

First, you'll hear about how many people told them they liked the current (or previous) work. No one ever stops to think that 99% of the time, people will want to tell you something nice about your work (except if they are paid consultants).

Second, no one wants to hear that their baby is ugly. It's devilishly difficult to make people understand that what they see is not what the average visitor coming to see their site, Facebook page or watching a Twitter stream wants to see. Logs don't lie. Look at what people do on the site or how they interact on social media - they do interact, right? If they don't, your baby is probably uglier than you think.

Third, the people who provide the content and strategies might think they're doing a great job. They've been on Twitter for four months, Facebook for a year and armed with this experience, they think they know all they need to make things happens in the best possible way, right? Not. A consultant, the one who's job it is to beautify your baby and fix the personality of your communication, probably has several accounts. The view that a private individual has after being on Twitter and Facebook and reading all the literature is not much experience at all, really. The consultant has deep statistics of multiple projects in the same area of interest (such as wine) and so has a view that no individual can have. There are many tools out there, some free, some not, that help analyze and improve all facets of your presence.

Fourth, anyone with a view of a single project doesn't have the global vision to know how they're doing compared to standards. Twitter numbers and Facebook fans are such a tiny part of the equation that they're really not worth counting, unless they're extremely low. Even then, if the interaction is there, the magic can happen, developing slowly.

Fifth, the language of "Welcome in my Web Site" or awkward grammar tweets make the whole thing look amateurish. If this is supposed to be "communication", is it wise to use your niece to do the translations? She's adorable and smart, but she probably doesn't have the chops to create the right impression in 140 characters. In person, no one minds an accent or a few grammar mistakes, but in writing, it's there for the world to read, day after day. Get a professional, native speaker to translate.

Sixth, don't shoot the messenger, listen to the message. Yes, you are paying someone to help you accomplish specific goals. Advisors are always open to discussion of what they observe or suggest, but should you pay for advice and then disregard it?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Remember, there is one you, but there are millions of beholders.