Choosing the right vendor to keep up maintenance on your home security can be as difficult as choosing the home security measures themselves. These people are responsible for keeping you safe by keeping your safeguards in top working order. Yet, anyone can roll up and call themselves a high quality business, and there are plenty of scammers out there.
Picking the perfect vendor doesn’t have to be hard. You just need to know the secrets to finding the right one on the first try. Here are 4 ways to make you a pro.
- Do Your Research
Before you ever begin making calls, getting an idea of what you’re up against and what you’re truly expecting from a vendor is step one.
- Search for Online Reviews
Sites like Angie’s List and Yelp are ideal for vetting a proper security maintenance vendor, as you can gain insights from previous customers and unbiased people who’ve experienced their service firsthand before. As reviews and star rankings can be done entirely anonymously, there’s no chance of someone selling you a pig in a poke out of guilt, fear, or as a favor to the business. You can get a detailed, unique, and accurate idea of who the best choices are.
- Ask People You Know
While thousands of opinions are great, a trusted opinion can be worth so much more. Ask your friends, family, colleagues, and even neighbors about who they chose as their maintenance vendor and why they may or may not recommend them. If you don’t know anyone personally who has experience in this department, ask friends to ask people they know for a more local opinion.
- Compare Competitors
Some think it’s rude to make vendors battle for your business, but it’s all part of being a smart shopper.
- See How They All Rise to Your Standard
Be sure to get a short list of the top vendors you’d like to hire, and then call them individually to ask the major questions. Prices, response times, packages, services, etc. Document each response, and even be willing to ask them their opinion on their competition. Their insights are not only telling on their rivals, but also on them.
- Customer Service Matters in the Long Run
As you’ll be dealing with this business for the foreseeable future, trusting them with the safety of your home as a byproduct of their handiwork, and handing over quite a bit of cash, it’s important that you actually enjoy working with them. If it’s difficult to get in touch, a pain to talk with their customer service employees, and complications arise in scheduling times or making payments, you’re going to regret choosing them. By comparing multiple home security maintenance vendors, you can get an impression of their customer service abilities as an individual and as it relates to the industry. Then, even though one vendor may be less cost effective, you’ll be happy to pay extra for a pleasant business to work with.
- Get a Gauge of the “Norm”
You may have a false idea of how the industry of home security maintenance really operates and be asking something more than is fair from your vendor. On the other hand, you could be taking second best or being scammed altogether by trusting them at their word. By comparing multiple vendors to one another, you can narrow down what a common practice is, what is extremely fair, and what is outrageous.
- Experience Does Mean Everything
When it comes to technical industries such as this, experience isn’t something to be overlooked, no matter how talented a business claims to be or how appealing their deals are. You want a skilled and well-versed professional in charge of your home’s safety – not a rookie who charges less to reflect their poor service.
- How Long Have They Been in Business?
The longer a business has been on the road, the more experience and reputation they’ll have gained. The ones who’ve managed to stay in the good graces of their customers for this long are likely to be highly skilled and trustworthy. If they were providing poor service before, then this would have shown in their success and in the reviews you’re able to dig up on them. More-so, any of their early mistakes as a new business will be well behind them if they’re at least a decade old; they’ve worked out the kinks and perfected the process, bringing you the absolute best service.
- How Professional Do They Appear?
Appearances really are everything. An experienced business will know this and take measures to present themselves in the best light possible to their customers, who are more likely to move onto a business that looks refined and competent, versus one that looks like it’s ran out of someone’s garage. Additionally, the more success a vendor has experienced, the greater budget they will have to make modifications to their storefront, uniforms, equipment, and working system. If they look high-class and capable, you can assume that they are.
- Feel Free to Play Dumb
No one wants to seem like an idiot, but when it comes to the world of signing on for a big investment, it pays off to play yourself as 40 IQ points lower than you are.
- It Gauges Their Customer Service
How well someone acts when they’re dealing with a savvy customer is not how they may act when dealing with a non-savvy one. Never be rude, but by asking obvious questions and requesting an explanation on something that should be simple, it shows their patience levels, how they treat customers of all kinds, and how much they truly value your patronage. A true professional will be able to response respectfully, while someone who might become a pain to work with later will not.
- It Roots Out Hidden Catches
Some things go without say. And shouldn’t. Some businesses have hidden catches worked into their contracts and services – and while it may or may not be malicious, it is easily overlooked. By making assumptions that should be “obvious,” you will miss shedding light on these unique cases that may be a deal breaker or may need explained. Rather than signing a contract only to find out you’re in for a surprise later, go ahead and ask the stupid questions; it can’t hurt. It can only help.
- It Guarantees Everything is in Writing
Once you discover these hidden details, or have a worry that may be unfounded but could become a problem, you can demand that they be put into writing. This may seem unnecessary in some cases, but that’s the advantage of playing dumb: you can do the “unnecessary” and ensure you’re safe from any legal or service issues in the future.
Picking the right vendor isn’t just about asking the right questions; it’s about knowing the right place to look, how to weed out the scams, and especially knowing the secrets of how you should approach vendors to get the right results. If you want to get the perfect maintenance team the first shot, then apply the techniques that few others utilize, and begin vetting your options now.
