Image = Reality

Recently I met with the owner of a marketing agency to discuss our marketing strategy. During our chat the concept of corporate image came up. He jotted the following formula, Image = Reality, on his notepad and turned it so I could see it. The point struck home with me. If you take a realistic outsider's view of your company, what would that image be? Think about it. In today's economy you have competitors beyond your traditional direct competitors.

Packerland is involved in the image business. If a potential customer walks into your facility, what is their first impression? Does it matter? You bet it does. Every positive image will ultimately contribute to success.

Mats Aren't Only For Winter

It's not a sales pitch. Our service should be a part of your safety strategy YEAR-AROUND. I was reminded of this just this past week. A new health facility opened in our area about two months ago. At that time the facility manager insisted that his shiny new floors had a "no-slip" coating and mats would not be necessary until the snow flew. Guess what happened the first time it rained? A number of incidents and an injury. Think about the cost of our service versus the legal system. It's a pretty easy decision.

Why's It Tough To Buy?

Like everyone else, you've most likely had a difficult time making a purchase. I experience difficulty all of the time. For that reason I tend to make repeat purchases at vendors and merchants that I trust. I feel that service has taken a real turn-for-the-worse with alot of companies.

If you wish to read a decent blog about trust and business, check out this Harvard Business Review blog. I guess I'm not the only one who has had this feeling.

Service Agreement Complacency

It's amazing, but we have found that many business owners and managers don't even know that they have a service agreement (contract) when they receive facility services. Some service providers are very good at disguising agreements as some other sort of benign document when, in reality, their innocent-looking document is a full-blown contract.

Service agreements are almost always a part of the deal. What do you think the biggest problem is with agreements? We here at Packerland would all agree that auto-renewal clauses cause the most problems for customers. Sure, auto-renewals are convenient if you're thrilled with the service, but what happens if you're not thrilled and forget to cancel within the specified terms of the agreement? You're stuck in many ways.

Suggestions? If you can, strike out the auto-renew clause before you sign the agreement. If you're too late to remove the clause, make a habit of composing a cancellation letter well before the end of the agreement. Be sure it is sent via certified mail. Attach the mail receipt to your copy of the agreement.

This one simple action will save you aggravation and expand your options for the future.

Do You Use TP?

Of course you use TP! It's pretty crazy how much paper gets flushed. If you're paying the bills, I'm most likely preaching to the choir! Many of our customers, despite our best efforts, have no clue that we are a distributor of restroom hygiene paper, i.e. TP and hand towels. Like most everything we do, we try to keep the purchase & delivery process simple. Though we do have large customers, our typical paper customer receives small deliveries "as needed". You're never too small to be a Packerland paper customer.

If you've been with your present TP vendor for many years without any sort of review process, maybe it's time you bring in Packerland for a consultation. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the quality and competitive pricing we can deliver.

Watch Those Invoices

Here's a tip: In these tough economic times a lot of companies are looking for ways to save a buck. Fortunately, in many situations, this trend has turned into a windfall for Packerland. Why's that? It turns out that many of our competitors, especially the national companies, are very aggressive with their price increases. That's a nice way of saying that many of their customers are getting hammered. The windfall for Packerland is that previously "hammered" companies see us as heroes. After a few months of dealing with us those companies begin to realize the benefit of dealing with a local company that sees customers as long-term partners instead of some figure to manipulate on a sales report.

It's real important that you look at your current pricing as it relates to where you started out at the beginning of your service agreement. Reasonable price increases are understandable. It's a fact of life. On the other hand, some companies take it to extremes. They'll lure you in with great "introductory" pricing then aggressively raise prices 3-4x annually. You'd be surprised how many of the national companies look at the service they provide as a short term proposition to be maximized without regard for long term relationships.