Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed with with too many options every time you search for a professional service provider online?
Nowadays, with so many ads and options online, it’s not a matter of finding any type of company, but finding the right company.
Everyone wants your business and will say just about anything to earn it, but the real question is, do you want to hire just any business?
As a service provider that cares about customers, we highlighted the qualities that we have noticed from reputable businesses and thought it would be good to share with all consumers out there.
So Here are 5 important key elements to look for when searching for a good professional company:
Number 1- Make sure to Hire a small company.
Reputable Small companies are more likely to have higher quality control and personal care for the business and its customers which will result in much better service.
Nevertheless, small businesses is what distributes the economy more fairly. When you support a small business, you are supporting a family & your community.
Number 2 – Make sure it has reputable references such as commercial accounts.
Don’t be afraid of asking for a commercial contact and call them to ask about their service. Specially if you’re looking for a long term relationship. A commercial contact is always credible and legitimate.
Number 3 – Photos and videos say a lot more then words & promises.
A good reputable business should have a nice portfolio of their work on their website or social media. Companies that take pride in their work are always showing it off.
Remember A picture is worth more than 1000 words
Number 4 – Try to Avoid the ones with high number of negative reviews regardless of their ratings!
Make sure it has a good number of reviews, preferably over 20, but it’s also recommended that they have a few bad reviews since it makes it credible. No person nor business is perfect, and there’s always going to be that one customer that complains no matter what.
In summary make sure that which ever company you are contemplating that seems to have a high rating, doesn’t have too many bad reviews specially for a small business.
Too many ppl complaining is not a good sign. Many companies manage to add good reviews to no affect the rating, so just be careful with small business having more than 15 bad reviews, specially if they are in a short amount of time (like within 2 years) you’re talking about 1 bad review per month.
There could be some exceptions to that rule; therefore, we will make a separate blog giving tips on how to judge reviews.
Number 5 – Last but definitely not least, don’t go for the cheapest companies on the market!
A good professional company that will meet all the requisites stated in this video, shouldn’t need to be the cheapest to earn business.
One important thing to remember is that, in this type of industry, small businesses will be able to have more competitive and/or fair rates than larger companies or corporations. Why is that? Because in this industry we are selling trained manual labor, not a product. Therefore, it’s very hard to sell it in a volume without running very high risks and liabilities. Big corporate need to sale in volume in order to make sustainable profit. When you higher services from big companies that are offering low flat rates, be wary because when something seems to good to be true, it usually is.
Consequently, trying to search for the cheapest amongst the small businesses is searching for low quality and potentially doing business with unethical businesses & their practices. Trying to save a few bucks in these situations can end up costing you more than you think.
A good cleaning company for example, will do research about sanitation and how to clean & use the right products in your home or office, which is something that most companies don’t care for. A good company will compensate their workers fairly & accordingly and that shows in the quality work. Think about “In & Out” for example, their employees are know to be well compensated & well trained, therefore, it reflexes in their performance and the quality of their service. Something most fast food chains lack. A good company will care about the customer satisfaction & their reputation.
When a business expands, many times quality control drops, since business owners are not personally training and shadowing their workers to make sure they learn procedures accurately, moreover, a big chunk of the overhead costs are meant to cover high salaries.
However, with small business, specially a good ethical one that cares about its reputation, most of the revenue goes to cover labor, necessary expenses for the business, and marketing, and any remaining will go to the business owners.
Many times there isn’t much profit left; however, with small businesses, owners can take over some of the labor hours to save costs and even have their own family members help out for the good of the business. Therefore, it’s important to respect a business rates & fees. Haggling a service rate to convenience your budget, with out offering a delay that could be beniffial for the business is something no business owner likes to deal with. If they do it for you, they will have to do it for everyone else, & usually business have their set rates for a reason and pressuring for lower rates just because, or comparing them to another company’s rates, can put that company in a very uncomfortable and unfair position, and potentially turn the experience into a negative one. It’s always good to compare rates with other business to make sure A company is not trying to rank their fees last minute. Unfortunately, there are some small companies that do that, but you can tell right away when a service provider is trustworthy or not, especially if it checks all the 5 criteria’s mentioned previously.
Let’s us know in the comments, if you ever had any bad experiences with other cleaning or home service companies, and if you would like us to answer any questions or concerns!
Excellence Cleaning Pros.