You may have seen his show on HGTV, if not you need to check out this cover-all wearing, one-man B.S. detector.
Mike Holmes is a contractor whose core principal is that “things should be done right the first time.”
It struck me that home contractors and network support companies are much the same; we both provide a service for customers that is very hard for the average customer to inspect properly and next to impossible to compare to alternate providers.
Nobody wants to get ‘taken for a ride.’
In their personal AND professional life; people want to know that they got a good deal (not the best deal; just a good deal). Quality counts, and folks are willing to pay for good quality.
But how can you compare quality on something you know nothing about?
The truth is; you can’t.
You rely on references and word of mouth and the all important gut-instinct to guide you through most purchasing decision.
Unfortunately, as Mike proves; this can sometimes cost you a bundle in time and money and leave you with a project that is shoddy if not downright dangerous.
When Mike shows up you just know he is going to uncover a rats-nest (sometime literally).
He shows you what’s wrong and why, then fixes things the right way. He explains why doing things the right way the FIRST TIME may cost more but is the right thing to do.
Doing things the wrong way will almost always cost you more in the long run. In the case of a remodel; this can put your family in danger. With a network; this can put your business in danger!
The ‘bones’ of a structure (just like in a network) are hard to see and most folks don’t know what they are looking at anyhow. Poor insulation, sub-standard materials, dangerous wiring abound!
I like to think that we are the “Mike Holmes” of IT.
I tried to get us all cover-alls by my wife put the kibosh on that idea!
Most contractors, just like most ‘IT guys’ have good intentions. I have run across lot’s and lot’s of IT folks and support companies and I have not found any that were just out to cheat someone.
But in both contracting and in IT many, many people either;
- Don’t know the right thing to do, or
- Can’t afford to do it right based on the prices they were charging.
Sometime the damage to a house from a contractor is not immediately obvious to the home owners because they are obviously not contractors. It takes someone like Mike Holmes to come in and explain to the home owners WHY they got a raw deal.
You always feel sorry for these folks – you can’t help but to! Of course, they always say; “We checked him out as best we could.”
I have a theory on this; unless you know someone REALLY good, like related by blood, marriage or court order; they probably DON’T want to give a bad reference and ADMIT that THEY got taken for a ride!
Just a thought!
Good Networking!
Eric Hobbs
Technology Associates
ehobbs@technologyassociates.net
919-459-0109 – Direct
Things to Think About…
- NEVER select the lowest cost provider The lowest cost provider is telling you something; it is either; 1) I don’t know what I am doing and can’t price this job properly or 2) I am so dang desperate for work I will do this job at a loss (they will eventually resent loosing money on your job just as soon as a better job comes along and you will get kicked to the curb)
- Do your best to UNDERSTAND why competing bids differ in price There are LOTS of reasons why pricing would differ. From materials to the quality of the people on the job; all these things impact the price. Be sure you compare all these factors as carefully as possible.
- DON’T assume that different priced services are the same This is the biggest mistake I see people make. Folks assume that quotes for service are just like quotes for new cars, unfortunately, you can’t compare most things like this. I know a ‘Ford F150′ is the SAME no matter what dealer you get it from but network support (and home contractors) are NOT ubiquitous services.
