In this economy, most people are focused on exactly where every one of their pennies is going.
That’s a good way to live, in general, (have I mentioned we’re cheap frugal?) but there are some things that are more important than a dollar.
My husband and I own a small construction business, and I know from experience that cheaper isn’t always better. I can guarantee you that we’re not always the cheapest bid, but we’ll be the best at everything from setting up appointments to making sure the customer is completely satisfied, to follow up care.
In the long run, isn’t that worth a few extra dollars?
We renew all of our business insurances around the first of the year, and we’ve been with the same insurance agents for the past 12 years. They are awesome – just all around great at everything.
Not to mention, having all of our insurance needs taken care of under one roof eliminates a ton of stress for me. We need an insurance certificate? One email = done, for everything, in a matter of minutes.
I’ve had insurance agents crawling out of the woodwork to try and win my our business for the past couple of months. Some have been a tiny bit cheaper than my agents, but I refuse to transfer, anyway.
And then I have to defend my decision. Those other agents don’t understand why I wouldn’t immediately switch carriers if I can save a few dollars.
It comes down to loyalty. It comes down to business relationships. It comes down to my belief that the grass is not always greener, even if looks that way from this side of the fence.
Wouldn’t I be pissed to discover astro-turf when I got there?
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8 replies on “Loyalty”
I agree completely. I haven’t changed my car insurance for the same reasons, though I’ve been tempted from time to time.
I so agree! In the age of awful customer service, if you find someone that gives you good service? Stick with it! I would!
well said! i couldn’t agree more. 🙂
I have to say I completely agree with you. Especially in a small business, loyalty is important. It never ceases to blow my mind how quickly people are willing to drop those they’ve dealt with for years to save a couple of bucks. Not even a significant sum, but a bit. So sad. Good for you, further proof that you have amazing character 🙂
I couldn’t agree more. We are currently remodeling our house and we didn’t choose the cheapest contractor, but the one we chose has been so great. Works hard, pays attention to detail and is just a stand up guy. I am happy to give him my business.
You are correct. Part of being cheap is knowing what is worth spending money on and what is not. We spend money on things that offer safety and security. We don’t spend money on things that are transient.
Agreed. It has taken me years to build up a list of the good people – and the list is still incomplete – but I wouldn’t change them for the world.
One air and heat company diagnosed a faulty freon input valve and fixed it, just six months after another company charged me $250 to input freon through said valve, stating “the leak could be anywhere in the system, here’s a quote for a whole new system”.
Guess which one I stuck with?
So true! We’ve stuck with several businesses for value, customer service and reliability. Some things are really worth the extra cost.