We pride ourselves on good customer and partner relations and feel pretty confident that if we weren’t doing a good job for our clients they would let us know.

As such, a few weeks ago we were privy to information from a competitor, sent to us by a loyal and long-standing client. While clearly a stock marketing message used in the competitor’s correspondence, the content sparked a number of questions as to their chosen campaign line:

“We operate a fixed pricing policy”

What does this really mean? How long are the prices fixed for?

If they are fixed for several years and global prices are rising then the company is either going to be making a loss or the fixed prices were pitched artificially high in the first place. Great to have prices that are fixed from a budgeting point of view, but meanwhile, in the real world, it really doesn’t stack up.

“None of our clients have experienced a price increase over the last 10 years”

It comes as no surprise to anyone in business that prices will go up incrementally, even if only to keep up with inflation every year – for a supplier’s prices to stay the same for the last 10 years they are either making constant internal economies or eating further and further into their profit margins. There comes a point where there simply isn’t enough money in the work to be able to do it properly or respond to urgent needs – everybody loses on this one when this happens – there are no winners.

And if prices haven’t gone up it also begs the question as to whether staff have had any pay increase during this period, or money invested in their training?

We are constantly looking to expand our offer to clients in order to keep up with legislative demands as well as individual client growth needs. Does the price go up? Generally, yes. Are they getting great value for their money? Absolutely yes!

“We have been able to reduce our client’s costs, on average by 25% compared to their previous supplier”

Really? Can this be proved? Is it like-for-like (treatment frequencies, standard of service)?

“We guarantee to improve upon the level of service which you currently receive”

Now this is the part we find quite staggering. It’s some promise to make to someone you have never met and whose business you have never visited that you will do a better job than their current provider. Oh, don’t forget the hinted at savings of 25% and a fixed price for at least 10 years! That’s a very bold statement to make.

If you get one of these approaches maybe take a couple of moments to think about what the message really means…we’re always here to talk if you need advice or a free survey.

We’re not going to make bold claims before we’ve met you or have looked at your business, we’re also not going to promise to be cheaper (hey – it’s a possibility but until we meet you how do we know?). What we are able to do right here, right now is to say that we are trusted by many household names to deliver the services that we offer and our reputation goes before us.

Give us a try – you won’t be disappointed!