I wonder how many of us can say they trust their roofer. According to a Toronto Star article a few days ago, roofers are not supposed to be particularly noble and trustworthy. Well, mine is. That's one of the benefits of having developed a long term relationship with this man.
My roofer is Jack Atlas from J. Atlas Roofing. I've known Jack since the 1970's. I know where he lives.
As with most of the service providers I use and refer people to, I can trust Jack to do the best job possible and follow up with accountability. Often professionals like Jack will contract out some jobs. That's the nature of the game. However, if there's ever a problem, I can assure people he'll attend to it. The buck does stop somewhere.
Long term relationships are the back bone of my business. I'm nothing if not loyal. Joyce has been my hair stylist (yes, yes I know, there's not much to style) for over 30 years. Gus has been changing my oil for 20 years. Nick has been dry-cleaning my clothes for 15 years. Bob has been chuckin' guitar chords for 34 years. Virginia has been drafting my wills for 20 years. Dan has been helping with my marketing for 25 years. James has been fixing my house for 15 years. This list goes on and on.
I like to think many of my clients return to me each time they want to move because of our established long term relationship. They know, with a great deal of certainty, that all will be well each time we work on something together.
It breaks my heart to hear clients suffer though an unnecessary nightmare over a simple thing like a roof patch or a basement reno. "They got the money and disappeared" is the most common complaint. Funny how phones can get disconnected so quickly at times like this.
In this fast paced world of Facebook and Twitter, with ideas and information flying every which a way each nano second, the stability of a long term and reliable relationship gains value each and every day. These relationships have taken much time and energy to develop and the rewards of this effort are enormous. I'm grateful to these people for being good at what they do and for being there when I need them. I sure wouldn't want to begin developing .
