Just Because You Do It Differently, Doesn’t Mean You Do It’s Better….

My house was built in 1993, my fiancé and I bought the house in 2014. We like to think we’ve done a pretty good job at taking care of our home…..with one exception, the front window. This large, oddly shaped window leaks AC in the summer and heat in the winter. So we finally decided to get an estimate to have someone replace the window. We called a reputable company to come out, measure and give us an estimate. What happened next stunned me.

The pleasant sales woman proceeded to tell us they have a sales man come out and, not only, give us an estimate, but also provide us with “a short 90 minute sales presentation” on why their windows are better than any other windows. I politely told the woman that we weren’t going to need the sales presentation – just the estimate. She proceeded to tell me: “We do things differently than anyone else, it’s why we’re so much better than the competition. There’s no way to get the estimate without the sales presentation. It’s a new policy.”

A stranger trapping me in my own home and giving me a 90 minute hard sales pitch for a product I already want? That sounds like a version of hell that Stephen King couldn’t dream up. Needless to say, I canceled the appointment for them to come to the house.

Small business owners, what’s the moral of the story? Just because you’re different from your competition, that doesn’t necessarily make you better. So before you go changing everything because you’re so desperate to be different, make sure your changes make sense.

Sidenote: Admittedly, this blog is a little self-serving. I still need my window replaced. If anyone knows of a good window company (that won’t hold me hostage in my own home), please shoot me an email – josh@asterfg.com