Ten Attributes of a Good Matchmaking Service

1. Starting with the initial inquiry, respectable matchmaking services should offer published prices that they willingly provide over the phone. If you are unable to get prices by phone, prepare yourself for some extreme sales pressure and high prices should you meet with them directly.

2. The same person who interviews you should be personally responsible for finding you matches throughout your entire membership. In a matchmaking service, this is of prime importance. How can someone who does not know you match you appropriately? They can't. A matchmaker must know all members to do a good job. Consequently, a good matchmaking service will probably be a small company, rather than a large company or a franchise operation with high turnover of employees.

3. Be concerned about working with services that are not in your local area. They may have posted toll-free numbers and claim they have representatives or employees in your territory, but if you cannot walk into a staffed office and see where their daily operations take place, be careful. There have been a lot of organizations that have tried opening satellite operations in certain territories only to fail in producing proper services in those areas. In addition, many have closed down shortly afterward – keeping your money, of course.

4. Look for a service that does not outsource to telemarketers. Think about it: if you are contacted by a telemarketer, who will pay that fee or commission? The person who joins that service, of course! Who will pay the telemarketer to call thousands of people who do not join the service? Again, the person who joins the service will pay a fee that includes a built-in payment for the telemarketer.

5. Look for a service that does not sell (or even offer) long-term memberships over one and half years. After the first year, are you still at the top of their attention?

6. Look for a service with a majority of members who are similar to you. Inquire about the age range, education level, occupation, and geography of their members. If they meet your standards, then you’ll know you are on the right track to meeting similar types to yourself. “Birds of a feather” stick together, so to speak.

7. Make sure that the service keeps a fair balance of members in certain age ranges and gender. The membership of most singles services mirrors the population. Keeping that membership balanced may require offering special prices or incentives to a certain age group or gender. This is a good thing.

8. Look for a matchmaker with good training and/or experience. As you would when questioning any other service provider, find out how long they’ve been in business, what training they’ve had to be a matchmaker, where else they’ve worked, their success rate – anything that will assure you the matchmaker is legitimate, and the right fit for you.

9. Look for a company that allows your membership to be put on inactive status. When you meet a potentially special person, you will want to go inactive while exploring the relationship. Ask if the company has an inactive feature. You don't want to be forced to take your membership in consecutive months or periods of time.

10. Last, but certainly not least, when you have researched the market and have met a matchmaker with whom you feel comfortable, follow your gut - if you feel good about the matchmaking service you’ve chosen, then you should proceed. Chemistry in this relationship is also important.