PUBLISHER’S CORNER Price or Quality Service? WRITTEN BY TONY CORPIN |
TONY@STNONLINE.COM W
hat’s more important to you, price or quality of service? I believe in the adage “you get what you pay for,” which is why I’m not always hunting for the
lowest price but also the best overall value. When I shop, I usually first compare online vendors like Amazon, Walmart, Target or Costco. Additionally, while shopping at brick and mortar stores, I use apps on my iPhone or other online resources to check prices on goods or to locate special sales. But sometimes price isn’t the only factor when making my decision. Many industry professionals I speak with are continually looking for the best pricing on school bus parts. But many are also looking for timely delivery, in-stock availability and quality of service. Meeting all these conditions is truly the trifecta. Tere so many sources for quality school bus parts in the industry, from OEMs to school bus dealers, indepen- dent parts distributors to aftermarket internet stores. Where do you turn to buy parts? And what parts are you buying? I’m sure you have your loyalties. What you want to buy and from where depends on
shop based on price when price is the only factor that separates competing offerings. In other words, customers shop based on price when there is no emotional connec- tion to a business or product, when they are not engaged with the brand. Engaged customers, those who love specific brands,
“Engaged customers,
are the best customers. In fact, they’ll go out of their way to buy from their preferred vendors that they have existing and strong relationships with. Now obviously, major price differences can make a difference in buying behavior. But at the margin, customers are more sen- sitive to service than they are to price. One school bus contractor
those who love specific brands, are the best
customers. In fact, they’ll go out of their way to
buy from their preferred vendors that they have existing and strong relationships with.”
your circumstances, but in general it’s better to trend toward the service end of the spectrum when selecting a supplier partner. Te reason is simple, if seemingly counter-intuitive. Within broad limits, price is not usually the deter- mining factor in customer purchase decisions. Studies have shown that 10 to 15 percent of price difference won’t cause customers to switch loyalties simply be- cause of a lower price. However, as many as three-quar- ters of the customers who do switch do so because of inadequate service. Gallup research has shown that customers only
50 School Transportation News • FEBRUARY 2018
I recently spoke with told me a story about a supplier he’d been working with for years that provided quality customer service. He’d recently experi- enced a noticeable negative shift in that trend. He had grown accustomed to quality service, but when it slipped so did his customer loyalty, no matter the price being offered. Has this ever happened to you? In most businesses, as in our daily lives, service trumps price unless one brand can
offer a major cost benefit over another. Te exceptions are highly undifferentiated items bought in bulk, such as chemicals or gasoline. Tis is a good-news, bad-news situation for most school districts and school bus contractors. It means that you don’t have to strive to be quoted the absolute lowest of prices and let your vendors slack off on quality customer service. When making your decision to select key vendors, keep mindful that’s it’s not always only about price. Ig- noring the quality of service could cost your organization much more in the long run.
Tony Corpin, Publisher
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