Responsible Fall Protection Sales

Should fall protection equipment distribution companies have a responsibility to their clients to ask the question “What are you doing with this stuff”?

I recently walked a project and the client asked if I could take a quick look at the “Fall Protection System” that they already had installed on their roof. We headed up to the roof where I saw an improperly installed system with various incompatible devices, and worst of all, a system which inhibited employees from performing a necessary job at the roof’s edge; the system required a user to link a 6’ lanyard to a self-retracting lifeline in order to get them to the roof’s edge. My client had no idea there were problems, nor what they were, and the company he bought from certainly had no problem in turning a profit and then washing their hands clean of responsibility –  which is fine if your company sells tee shirts, but not fall protection equipment.   

The problem starts when you call a distributor that sells. “Fall protection? Sure!” They grab their catalog, find part numbers, contact their inside sales person and order the equipment for their new “Client” a.k.a. $$$. The whole time they never ask what you’re doing with this stuff, nor how it will be used.

At www.versatilefallprotection.com we always ask prospective clients about their intent because we care. These questions unlock safer, easier, and more cost effective solutions. Questioning is not a challenge of prospective client knowledge, it’s about ensuring that our clients get a safe cost effective solution.

Back on the roof, thousands of dollars of unusable equipment lay scattered around without a decipherable plan. The catalog company that the equipment was purchased from may have had the cheapest price, but the cost of removing and reinstalling an adequate fall protection system totals as much as double what our client would have paid if they had gone to an expert from the start.

At Versatile Systems, Inc., the key is to provide as much value to a customer as physically possible. Unfortunately, some companies don’t believe that, for some companies it’s about “I” not “You”. Value lies not just in the cheapest price but also the service that comes with it. There will always be companies who “sell” without responsibility and as long as they’re operating, Versatile Systems, Inc. will clean up their mess because of our belief in responsibility. At the end of the day, a company should ask a client the who, what, where, and whys, but some may never do.

 

John McHugh

Versatile Fall Protection

www.verfallprotection.com

(818) 565-5551