24 June, 2022

You’ve all heard the quote “The grass is always greener on the other side” right?

It seems to come up in business more than you expect.

Not long ago, on my hands and knees, picking out teeny-tiny weeds from between the garden slabs I thought, ”am I the only one that notices these weeds?” It’s a thankless task and no one probably realised I’d done it but I’m sure they would certainly notice if I hadn’t because over time those pesky little shoots would become massive weeds. I thought about that recently when we heard from an ex-client.

We lost this client to a competitor because they offered a better price, he saw them as a better option. A couple of months went by and we heard it wasn’t as good a move as he’d hoped. The new provider had quoted fixed fees, which I admit really did sound attractive, but turns out that was for a very basic service. It seemed the clients expected our level of service at a cheaper fee from the new provider. So things it would seem weren’t going too well and both were unhappy with the situation.

I’ve often wondered if we over-service clients, our margins are perhaps not as good as some of our competitors, but when I hear stories like this and stop to think about the trust and faith business owners put in our hands and I think the extra effort we put in is worth it.

Moral of the story: When you work in admin or finance your work often goes unnoticed. It’s not until something ISN’T done that people realise what WAS getting done.

Tips when looking at replacing an existing service:

  • Ask people you know for personal recommendations, and research your options.
  • Ask for a like-for-like quote making sure the services match your needs.
  • Book a discovery call before making a commitment to change over. These are important to assess your working practices and if you can happily work together.
  • Check how long your contract lasts, it’s an awful experience all around being tied to a contract you are unhappy with.

If you would like a chat about our services or a like-for-like quote you can book a discovery call here.