Do References Tell The Whole Story?

When speaking with a commercial property owner or manager about doing the maintenance for their property a common question is if we can give them references.  While you may believe that is a good idea you might want to think that process through.

It reminds us about the old say of having the “Fox watch the chicken coup.”  Probably not a good idea.

Asking any contractor to give you their references leads to this question.  Will he give you a list of customers and former customers to call?  Would he give you the contact information from an unhappy former customer?  That doesn’t seem very likely.

In this day and age of computer and internet communications you would think that a quick check of one of the many “reference sites” would give you a good idea of who to hire.  Two things you may want to consider, is the normal human condition, that people will post a complaint long before they will post a complement.  Some vendors actual hire or reward people to leave “good or great” ratings.  In some cases people have been hired to post negative reports without ever using the contractor.  While the reference sites try to avoid having this occur there is no truly effective way to stop it from happening.

There are websites that openly sell their services to “repair” a companies’ online reputation.

One of the best ways to find out an overall view of any contractor is to speak with other property managers and owners and ask if they can give you someone that they have used and are or were happy with.

Do your homework and ask around to find the real story about your next contractor.  Some old fashion leg work will give you a much better idea of who to hire.  Asking the contractor or using reference sites are not likely to give you the true and full picture.

It doesn’t matter to us whether you want rock gardens, lush lawns, desert landscaping or some type of landscaping in between, we can help.  To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.

Presented by:
Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance, LLC
623-848-8277
http://www.commerciallandscapecare.com
greenskeeperllc@cox.net