Recently, I purchased a new printer. Now those of you that know me, know that I do a lot of research before making a purchase, especially a tech purchase. Even though I am a real estate broker, I like technology. So I have chosen to build, maintain and implement all of our office technology.
Herein lies the problem, not ALWAYS is it best to do everything. Even though the saying “If you want something done right, you should do it yourself.”, often applies. If have a trusted advisor on your team, it can make all the difference in the world.
After 10+ hours of researching printers and toner cartridges, I was only more confused. My standard default for printers is Hewlett Packard. But that was 10 – 20 years ago and now there are many other alternatives… Brother, Ricoh, Dell, Lexmark, Oki, Samsung, Sharp, just to name a few. Couple all different brands with who provides the best aftermarket (ie cheap) toner cartridges and there was simply too much data for my brain to process.
Enter Jeff Parry with California Business Solutions. I had used him previously to repair my HP printer. He had been recommended Erik at Ask Erik Computer Services in Seal Beach, who saved my ass after a hard drive crash several year ago. Jeff’s shop isn’t on the best side of town, it isn’t flashy and he doesn’t have a big staff, but he is the kind of guy that you can trust. You can tell his primary job is to just do the right thing and help his clients.
Knowing that the best person to ask about reliability is a repair guy, kind of like the old Maytag repair guy commercial, I asked Jeff what he thought. He said “I have been having good luck with Dell printers”. I never had even considered them, thinking that the were primarily a computer company. What did I know? In addition Jeff would be able to provide me with cheaper aftermarket toner cartridges or oem cartridges.
Most importantly Jeff would stand behind the printer and the toner cartridges. And how much would this cost me for Jeff’s help? Nothing. Yes that is correct. Instead of ordering the printer from Dell, I ordered it from Jeff. Same cost, only he sets the printer up and would service it should anything go wrong. In addition, he will know which toner cartridges provide the best quality for the buck.
Sometimes there really is a free lunch. This really isn’t too different from our Real Estate business. There are many things we do for free. An obvious example is when we work with a buyer. It often shocks me how some buyers will choose to work with a part time friend, with little experience in real estate, not realizing the huge asset they are giving up by not having an experienced fiduciary in their corner.
Because of phrases like “You get what you pay for” and “There is no free lunch”, we just assume that getting assistance that doesn’t cost anything is just not possible. Combine this false assumption with the reality that finding a good service provider is often a rarity no mater what the industry, and we assume it never happens.
Well I am here to tell you that, good service people are worth their weight in gold, and often this gold can be free.