Are You Getting What You Pay For?

I read somewhere once that “quality is remembered long after price is forgotten” and thought how true that is. For some reason it sounded much better than “you get what you pay for” but they both have the same sentiment. We’ve recently heard back from a few of our projects, projects that we lost based on price, and realized how true these sayings can be. As I am sure with many of us, we have all encountered situations where we did get what we paid for and it made a big difference in the long run as well as other situations or products that might not have affected us as much.

It is understandable in this economy to be careful about the money you are spending on products. I am sure that you have to consider if certain aspects of your facility, building or home are “wants” or “needs” . Our types of products can easily turn into something on a wish list and can sometimes be deleted with regret and we understand that each big ticket item needs to be carefully evaluated based on its rate of return. We understand that which is why we try to give you the best value for your dollars. With this in mind, we recommend that you do your homework and evaluate what you are buying, what the end product should be, and what the process of the installation will be like. Our portion of the project should run smoothly, thus, giving you a quality end product to look forward to.

So, as you are starting to work on your project, make sure to consider all aspects of the company you are choosing:

• How long has the company been in business? Keep in mind if they’ve been in business less than their warranty (e.g., 10 years on the panels) then how can you expect them to stand behind a warranty that is older than their company?

• Can the company provide you with legitimate references whether that includes projects you can go visit or owners whom you can speak to? Remember that nobody is ever going to give you a bad reference so it may be challenging to find somebody to say something negatively but hopefully you can gain better insight via the references.

• Can the company meet or exceed your expectations regarding scheduling or other promises? I’m sure that we can all attest that actions speak louder than words so bear witness to the actions of the company and use them as a good (or bad!) sign of what could come.

• What is the level of communication on the front end of negotiating the project? If the communication is good in the beginning with all persons involved it is likely to stay that way, but if the communication is a little iffy than it is unlikely to improve over time.

We are not in control of your pocketbook and budgets but we are in control of how we respond and respect our prospective, current, and past clients. Hopefully in knowing that we are here to be your partners for our scope of work will help the process become easier for you. We may not always be the cheapest company in our industry but we do have top of the line products and the best customer service. We do hope that as you make your decision that you remember the quality of the products and the company knowing that sometimes you do get what you pay for.