8 Key Questions To Ask Yourself When Dealing With Outdoor Awning and Blinds Companies
As you Google whom to call for your free measure and quote on a outdoor blind or an awning in Melbourne, here are a few gems you need to look for. Forget the ‘AS SEEN ON TV’ logos and fancy TV radio clips on their sites. Look deeper.
You made it here. For your efforts, here are a few gems to get you thinking.
If you are relying on GOOGLE reviews, we have some some bad news for you. Reviews aren’t always an honest indication or reflection of a product or the company. As for GOOGLE itself and other social media giants, they’re not what they use to be. There are numerous examples (especially over the COVID-19 period in 2020) as to their fact checking, cancel culture, bias campaigns, breach of privacy issues just to mention a few. Such as, the (non-tax paying Facebook) deleting content and threating the Australian Government and people. And if they do not like your review, they will delete your account and reviews.
So can we really trust them to provide genuine feedback from actual customers? Or even worse, highlight the bad ones only!
As for reliability of reviews…what can I say…there is always someone out there who is hard done by, feels unheard or disgruntled.
Read as many reviews from as many sources, even listen to a friend who had experience with the company to get an overall idea. BE ON THE LOOKOUT. Pick up the phone, call the company direct. Make an appointment. Get them to your place for a FREE measure/quote. See how prompt the response is and how quickly can they be at your place.
Generally, unless you want to order 10 blinds all motorised with the alleged latest bells and whistles, you will be over promised and under delivered by most companies. Not to mention that they are in no hurry to get to you; especially if it is a small job. Without a doubt you will hear every excuse made not to come over.
Forget the annoying radio ads and made up internet awards on their sites. You need to look much deeper. Here are 8 things to look for:
- Is it a caring family owned business, a franchise or a large conglomerate owned by foreign investors who are only interested in profit and shipping it overseas?
- Are the people friendly, honest and easy going or are they pushy because of targets they have to meet?
- Do their personnel arrive on time (if at all!) for a measure & quote/installation and are polite, courteous, neat and tidy?
- Do you feel like just another a NUMBER when dealing with BIG companies or do they actually make you feel like a valued customer?
- Do they offer Personal Service and advice, offering less expensive items rather than ‘the latest” items that are probably unnecessary ??
- Where do they source their materials for the manufacture of blinds from and who stands behind their products?
- Do they try to sell you top of the range items at the highest cost that you may not need or do they listen and advise the best solutions for your personal needs?
- Do they quote high ball prices first then discount it by 50% – 80% to make it look like you’re getting a bargain. Would anyone believe that a $100K sports car can be bought for $20K?
Remember
BIGGER is not always better and in many cases can be unnecessarily expensive. Companies that litter the Radio & TV with annoying ads, freebies and giveaways may not always have your interests at heart. You know the saying: “The bigger the ad, the worse the service and the more sub-standard the product”!
There are a number of smaller companies and operators that do not have huge budgets to splurge on TV and radio ads, but DO absolutely offer a superior customer service and stand 100% behind their products because they do not incur massive overheads like flooding advertising, or misleading “impressive” showroom office space and superfluous administration staff.
Having a showroom staffed by occasionally incompetent and in some cases “indifferent staff” may not be the best way forward either in your choice of supplier. And let’s be honest, buying blinds is not like buying take away food you consume in one sitting; it’s a 10 year+ investment into your home environment. Experienced, knowledgeable staff are vital for personal advice and guidance. Without that, even more time and expense is added to the process.
With COVID-19 challenges in 2020, many business owners have closed their showrooms opting to simply operate remotely from home offices. Having a showroom and expensive advertising compounds the cost of your blinds, compromising other areas like service and quality product and most importantly, INSTALLATION!
Choosing an awnings or a blinds supplier comes down to only a few things.
Forget the . . .
- fancy vans/cars
- caps/visors
- embroidered shirts
- coffee mugs
- fridge magnets
- slick website – images of perfect Million Dollar homes with Hollywood swimming pools and tennis courts
- over selling laptop presentations
- CLEARANCE SALES
- FREE INSTALLATIONS
- any type of FREE gift if you buy NOW.
At the end of the day, someone has to pay for all that fancy stuff. And that someone is –YOU!
DO look for:
- Promptness
- Punctuality
- Reliability
- Honesty
- Integrity
Remember so-called BIG companies only want to do BIG jobs. Usually they don’t want to waste time and resources with one blind. Honest blind companies will know that in order to be a great company, no job is too small or too big.
When you get this combination correct, the price will always be right!
