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Heffner Plumbing Newsletter
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Greetings!
In today's world of quicker is better, my question is, what is that doing to the service industry as a whole and to the home services industry specifically? I have heard and read about plumbing companies being more interested in top sales rather than providing quality products or services. We are all in business to make money, I get that. I think that there is a right way and a wrong way to make a profit however and the process by which customers are treated needs to be the priority. If you are in business for the long haul, everything else should take care of itself.
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Trust. What Does This Word Mean To You?
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The Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary gives this as one of the definitions of trust that I'm referring to: a : assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something
b : one in which confidence is placed Trust is not something that comes packaged in a can or cardboard box. It is a direct result or derivative of a relationship between people. The bigger plumbing companies can spout off all they want about showing up on time and smelling good, but if a different plumber shows up at your front door every time that you call for service, how are you supposed to develop any kind of a relationship with a company that may eventually turn into trust? I started out as a 1-man shop, grew and took on employees and then down-sized again after this attempt at growth failed. One of the painful lessons that I learned when I had employees is that no ones cares like the boss and I had some customers that made this very clear to me. Operating as a 1-man shop has its limitations and I've learned that I can't be all things to all people. Many times a quick response to a call for service is possible and sometimes it's not. For the customers that know me however, leaving a key under the front door mat or giving me a garage door code frees them up to do other things. A customer in Zionsville who works long hours and is very busy has made this the routine when he calls for service. When the work is done, I e-mail him the invoice and he sends me a check. End of story and it works! |
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Referring Other Companies
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I'm often asked about other companies that do heating & cooling, water treatment, electrical work, etc. I now have a tab on my web site that lists companies that I recommend under "Preferred Vendors." I hope that this proves helpful for those that are so inclined to use this new information from the web site. Here's the link and look for this under "Quick Links" in each month's newsletter: www.heffnerplumbing.com/preferred-vendors.aspx |
