Tundra_10
New member
- Oct 30, 2011
- 1,129
- 0
I can only assume it is indicative of the season, but there are a serious influx of new threads generated about new business plans, pricing, procedures, marketing, and so forth. I have recently had an experience that I would like to share with you and how little things can make a big bad thing... loss of time and money.
Over the past couple years I have thrown up the idea of getting a sprinkler system for my lawn, my current setup which consists of a garden hose and a "bar-type" sprinkler works but is annoying as I have to position it, then move it somewhere else, etc. I forget a times, am too tired other times and its generally a pain-in-the-butt. I think I might have the ability to install a system myself but am a little uneasy about it since I will be tapping into my service line going into my house and I need to be very confident about the sealing of my joints in the pipe-work. I have first decided to see what it would cost to have one professionally done.
I have a lawn service that comes out and takes care of the fertilizer, weed control, etc. They also install irrigation systems so one day I decided to fill out a little section on their invoice that doubled as a marketing tool to get people to give them leads on possible extra services. After 2 weeks I did not receive a phone call so I called them. I received a lame excuse and was told I would be called soon. Almost at the end of business hours the guy calls me and tells me that he would be out later on that week or the beginning of next. Its now been 2 weeks from his latter time frame and still no call.
After believing I gave this company a fair amount of time and tries I decided if they did not want my additional revenue they must be doing pretty good for themselves and therefore I can help out someone else in this rough economy. 2 days ago I searched craigslist hoping to find a "little guy" that I know would work his butt off and who would be on top of his game, as apposed to a larger company who might only like to respond to commercial and larger jobs. I called someone and had to leave a message, he called back within the hour, I missed it but when I called back he answered. He even left the table where he was eating lunch at the restaurant to take my call. So far, so good. He told me he could be at my place in 2 hours, and even confirmed the time so there would be no mistake or miscommunication. He ended up showing up over an hour late, no apology and no excuse (ie car trouble, bowl movement problems, whatever), to someone like me who is time conscious, this is a big red flag. He was there so I figured I would let that slide and see what he had to say. We did a "walk-though" of my house and everything he said sounded great. Afterward he told me he would have a quote for me first thing in the morning. Morning came and went and I did not receive a quote until 11:30PM that night. The quote was for about double of what I was expecting as well. Needless to say I returned an email stating that I would not be using his services.
Would I have had a different response to that quote if that guy showed up on time and delivered as promised? EHHH maybe, doubtfully, but maybe. If he was slightly higher I would say yes but being double the price I expected there was no chance this guy had me. However, the point I am making is this both companies left a bad first impression in my mouth. They set themselves up for failure before they even met me, one still has not done anything and might actually loose me as a client for what they currently do for a lack of support from them. The other could not even deliver on a timely quote so that I could get them to perform the service. If they could not deliver when I was paying them, what would happen with follow-up service or warranty work when I might not be paying them.
Be conscious of your initial impressions, initial contact and following-up. These are some of the most simplest things a company can do that will make them sink or swim. Treat your customers good and they will keep coming back, treat them bad and you might as well delete their number out of your phone because unless you offer something unique chances are they are going somewhere else.
Over the past couple years I have thrown up the idea of getting a sprinkler system for my lawn, my current setup which consists of a garden hose and a "bar-type" sprinkler works but is annoying as I have to position it, then move it somewhere else, etc. I forget a times, am too tired other times and its generally a pain-in-the-butt. I think I might have the ability to install a system myself but am a little uneasy about it since I will be tapping into my service line going into my house and I need to be very confident about the sealing of my joints in the pipe-work. I have first decided to see what it would cost to have one professionally done.
I have a lawn service that comes out and takes care of the fertilizer, weed control, etc. They also install irrigation systems so one day I decided to fill out a little section on their invoice that doubled as a marketing tool to get people to give them leads on possible extra services. After 2 weeks I did not receive a phone call so I called them. I received a lame excuse and was told I would be called soon. Almost at the end of business hours the guy calls me and tells me that he would be out later on that week or the beginning of next. Its now been 2 weeks from his latter time frame and still no call.
After believing I gave this company a fair amount of time and tries I decided if they did not want my additional revenue they must be doing pretty good for themselves and therefore I can help out someone else in this rough economy. 2 days ago I searched craigslist hoping to find a "little guy" that I know would work his butt off and who would be on top of his game, as apposed to a larger company who might only like to respond to commercial and larger jobs. I called someone and had to leave a message, he called back within the hour, I missed it but when I called back he answered. He even left the table where he was eating lunch at the restaurant to take my call. So far, so good. He told me he could be at my place in 2 hours, and even confirmed the time so there would be no mistake or miscommunication. He ended up showing up over an hour late, no apology and no excuse (ie car trouble, bowl movement problems, whatever), to someone like me who is time conscious, this is a big red flag. He was there so I figured I would let that slide and see what he had to say. We did a "walk-though" of my house and everything he said sounded great. Afterward he told me he would have a quote for me first thing in the morning. Morning came and went and I did not receive a quote until 11:30PM that night. The quote was for about double of what I was expecting as well. Needless to say I returned an email stating that I would not be using his services.
Would I have had a different response to that quote if that guy showed up on time and delivered as promised? EHHH maybe, doubtfully, but maybe. If he was slightly higher I would say yes but being double the price I expected there was no chance this guy had me. However, the point I am making is this both companies left a bad first impression in my mouth. They set themselves up for failure before they even met me, one still has not done anything and might actually loose me as a client for what they currently do for a lack of support from them. The other could not even deliver on a timely quote so that I could get them to perform the service. If they could not deliver when I was paying them, what would happen with follow-up service or warranty work when I might not be paying them.
Be conscious of your initial impressions, initial contact and following-up. These are some of the most simplest things a company can do that will make them sink or swim. Treat your customers good and they will keep coming back, treat them bad and you might as well delete their number out of your phone because unless you offer something unique chances are they are going somewhere else.
