Who’s Driving the Bus?

There were many adjustments we had to make when we moved our family to the South. One of the largest was dealing with termites. There’s a saying down here: It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when they'll invade.

I’m sure that you would agree this is a very unsettling feeling...even after you spend hundreds of dollars per year with companies to prevent those little creatures from moving in with you. Then the questions become: Will they bring the entire family? and What is the extent of the damage they'll cause?

I watched the front entrance of a neighbor’s house be pulled apart piece by piece until all of the trails had ended and then the repairs began. The termites had entered through the weathered door trim and continued eating their way through the attached pieces of wood there after.

How could something as small as overgrown ants with wings do almost $12,000 worth of damage? Where was the company that was paid to protect the property with annual inspections and the so-called insurance policy it provided? Well, the homeowner didn’t read the fine print and the company he trusted with his home was only looking out for itself. Obviously, it didn’t have his best interest at heart.

I think we have all witnessed this a time or two in our businesses. You rely on your vendors to support you through the good times as well as the bad. Are they truly looking out for your best interest? Are they pushing you in another direction rather than assisting you with the solution? Are they making adjustments to your equipment just to compensate for the short comings of their products? Ask yourself: Do they have your back or theirs? And, Who is driving the bus? Being let down is not always the case, but when it happens once, that’s once too many. Such relationships should be a partnership and vendors have to remember that if you’re not successful, neither are they.