JoshSweeney

Selling Value and Trash Service

About a week ago my wife received a call from a trash company that was trying to gain more customers in our area. They offered to provide the same service that we were currently receiving but at a lower price and with an additional large trash can for recyclables. Although we weren’t really looking to switch companies we would be getting more value at a lower price so we accepted their offer.

After that call we had to call the current trash company to cancel our service and apparently the person on the other end of the phone was not happy about our switch. She proceeded to tell my wife that this was a bad decision, that this was a large company pushing little companies out of business and that we would regret when we pay fuel surcharges at a later point. These were all good points and needed attention but that is not the point of the post.

What it really comes down to is selling value on what many would consider a commodity. Following the recap from my wife I thought to myself, how did this smaller and likely more agile company prove their value while we had the service and would that have kept us from switching?

The fact is that the savings were minimal and the extra can, for times of need, was a bonus. This means that a little more value from the original company would have easily kept us from switching. This begs the question; “What value could they have provided, this is just trash service, right?”

They could have done any of the following things:

1. Called me at a regular interval to make sure we were satisfied with the service.

2. Called occasionally to make sure our trash cans get put back in the right place and aren’t laying in the street after service.

3. Offered to get our trash cans if they weren’t at the curb on trash day ( how many times have you forgotten to get the trash up? )

4. Offered one emergency pickup a quarter. This would be great after entertaining guests.

5. Given me a tight time range that they would show up each week in case I forgot to get it out the night before. I could then know if they had gone by already or not.

I am sure that there a many other ways this company could have provided value which would have kept me from switching, but they didn’t.

What are you doing to provide more value than you competitors? Are there things you know that you should be doing but haven’t had the time to do?