A lot has happened since February 11th. It’s been quite a rollercoaster ride. Here is an exert from an email I sent to one of our customers about some of the recent changes we had made to:
“Let me begin by apologizing. We have been in business for 5 years now, and one of the things we have tried to do better than any other company was to provide good customer service, and to take care of our customers so they felt like they were appreciated and were receiving a good product.
This last week it has crumbled quite a bit. There are a few reasons, and I feel like I owe you an explaination:
- On Tuesday they discovered a natural gas leak at our home, actually 4 leaks. They had to shut down our gas (no heat or hot water). So, we have had repairmen at our home since Tuesday trying to fix it, and it still is not done.
- On that same day as they were breaking through the concrete, they broke a water line, and so we had our water shut off until about an hour ago.
- Last week (and this one pertains more to you), on the 11th, we began rolling out with a new publisher that distributes our leads. We had been testing them for about 2 months, and things had gone well. On the 11th, as we stepped up production, they began to fold under the increased volume. The product was good, and they assured me that things would come about. Well they haven’t.
So, with the publisher we “were” using, and the with the complications of things going on at my home, that is what has caused things to break down. We are staying with the publisher we have been using for the last 4 years. We were trying to save money and lower the cost of our leads, but sometimes you get what you pay for.
While I am not wanting to list my excuses, I did want to explain where things have been since you initially placed your order.
What has happened with your order should have never happened, and it is an embarrassment.”
If you read through my two previous blog posts, you will see that we were making some changes to our web site in order to reduce costs for our customers. Well, the saying that “You Get What You Pay For” rings true in my ears right now. This publisher just colapsed and within one week, could have undone what we have worked hard for over the last 5 years.
So, we are going back to the publisher we had been using for lead distribution. They are quality (that is proven). They are reliable (That is proven also). But, we are not returning to the prices we had before.
I committed to lower prices. So, over the next week, we will continue to lower prices on our site and add new leads.
We lost a lot of hours (A Lot!). It was embarrassing; it was humbling. But, for the sake of taking care of what’s best for our customers and the long term goals of our company, we are more than happy, and even a little relieved, to continue to deliver quality.