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In my continuing quest to report the best consumer values in Memphis I sometimes end up chasing dead ends as was the case recently when I began shopping for a local mover. Let me ask you a question. Don't you just love to move? Why, when I even start to think about it, I get a tight chest and headache.
I hate trying to find a moving company. It is a time consuming chore and if you move enough you pick up some tricks of the trade, so to speak. This is one of those decisions where the phrase you get what you pay for is the key. So a few weeks ago I, drew in a deep breath and hit the search engines for information. Memphis sure has a lot of household movers. I looked online and then as a last resort in the yellow pages. Not a lot of information in the yellow pages but I did see some ads featuring pictures of tractor trailers. I guess it is to impress me in some fashion but it wasn't enough to get me to pick up the phone. I know that I don't want a tractor trailer on my neighborhood streets. I live off a dead end street in a cove, otherwise known as a cul-de-sac. That leaves a full size cargo truck, much more maneuverable and easier to position. But living in Memphis for nearly a decade I have seen trucks that I wouldn't ship my lawn mower in let alone my china cabinets.
While reconnoitering local moving businesses, I found some knowledgeable sales people but unfortunately for me that is where the customer service typically ended. I don't know about you, but when I walk into a business I expect to be treated as a customer. I don't like it when the employees can't meet my eyes or answer the most simplest of questions. What really gets me going is when someone says, " no speak English". Although it is so very tempting to tell you where I'd never do business and why, I would rather focus on the positive and tell you what works. During the current Obama economy, some business owners feel the temptation to cut pricing. This is a flawed business model for most enterprises. With household movers, cheap pricing also means cheap labor resulting in casual or day laborers to do the heavy work. You may have a driver and a couple packers show up that have never worked together before or they did not bring enough boxes or worse. I will tell you from my personal experience that this takes more time than expected. Something you don't need to deal with when you are on a tight schedule. Besides, saving money doesn't mean jack when your family heirlooms are broken. That is why I did not even consider movers who pitching low price.
I want to know that the folks who are packing my belongings are on the same page as I am and have the same goal in mind.. That being moving my belongings from point A to point B without incident. I want to be able to pack my personal items but have the kids clothing and all our books packed by someone who has done it before. And I certainly don't want to carry anything! I can usually make short work of unpacking when I have help just getting all the packaging picked up and taken away. My girls would just as soon keep it all and make castles for their dolls, but it's much easier to get it all done in one fell swoop. Having the moving service deliver packaging materials for me in advance of the move helps take the pressure off as well. With these concerns addressed I am in a much better mood and much more relaxed knowing that I have it covered. I feign surrender and let my girls have just one garment box. One of the things I looked for when I was shopping around was a written mission statement that reflected both high ethical standards and customer service. I figure it this way. If they haven't taken time to display it then they probably haven't taken the time to come up with one. If they can't be up front with their policies I won't waste the time even getting an estimate. When I walked through the front door of Two Men And A Truck of Memphis their mission statement was prominently displayed at eye level when I came through the door. I also saw a display case featuring nearly a decade of top performance awards. Two Men And A Truck is also a multi-year winner of the coveted J.D. Power's award for customer service excellence. I have seen a lot of movers offices so the décor of the foyer and reception area caught me off guard. But what has impressed me the most were two secretaries who greeted me when I came into the reception area. One would have thought I was a friend they had been waiting on to show up. I told Larry Segrest, the managing partner that I would not mind having one of his secretaries. He smiled and told me in a way only a southern gentleman can pull off, that wasn't likely to happen. Finding a mover that met my standards was not an easy thing but it was well worth the effort and I feel that it is the best value for the money. The entire staff functioned like a championship team that needed my business in order to get into the national play-offs. Finding them took some effort but in the end it was an easy decision to make. The unexpected surprise for me was that Two Men And A Truck are a national franchise. With any luck I'll never have to go shopping for another mover! Now when I find a company run like this I have no problem opening up my check book. Don't you feel really good when you make a great business decision?
Copyright 2010 Greg Traver. Greg Traver is freelance copywriter and webmaster for http://www.organic-gardening-for-life.com. For more information about Larry Segrest and Two Men And A Truck http://www.twomen.com/movers-in-memphis-
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