I published my blog for some 6 months without any indicator of how many folks and who were tuning in to read my musings. I depended on the publishing of my blogs on some “ezine” sites, DIY forums and counts on Google and Yahoo hits to show me the numbers and they remain amazingly high. I published some of these numbers recently to give some extra credence to my site and frankly to give me the impetus to keep writing. It isn’t easy coming up with topics, researching and writing the blogs that I think people both need and are willing to take the time to read. Recently I ran across a great service called “SITEMETER” which not only gives me an up to the minute count on every person that logs onto the blog site (average 17 per day), but even more importantly as I found since, the “Sitemeter” site also provides me with info on the basic location of each visitor (Pakistan was the farthest, Great Britain the most frequent foreign country), how they found the blog (Google search mostly), how long they stayed ( the longest 29 minutes), how many pages they looked (the most..17) at and if they were searching for something in particular what that was they were searching for. The latter thing is what has me really surprised. What leads people to me the most? Is it my witting writings about clogged toilets? NOPE. My musings on how to select countertops, flooring, backsplashes, faucets, sinks? NOT a chance. Was it my expert advice on how to repair simple the around the house? NO WAY. The primary thing that people were searching for that led them to me was “The buying experience with National Builder Supply”, people were looking for complaints and/or reasons that they should buy from NBS. To this end I guess I am lucky that I felt strongly enough, about my friends at NBS, that a few months ago I wrote and entire blog about NBS, the buying experience and what to look for or ito avoid when buying online from any one. Because of these findings from “SItemeter” I am going to reprint some of the highlights of this blog, again, today.
HERE GOES:
“ I admit a certain amount of prejudice towards NBS but it is based on personal experience not by a paycheck and by the feedback that I have received and that I am privy too from the customer service department. I think if someone has a good experience with ANY online vendor of ANY product then they should share it. There are websites that do nothing but allow a forum for complaints and praises on various merchants and professionals and this allows for a real opportunity for us all to learn who the good and bad are but these opinions should be honest and not because of any compensation or ulterior motive. If I didn’t believe in my friends at NBS I wouldn’t promote them. There is one particular online plumbing vendor which I have run across on MANY forums and the bad references outweigh the good 10 to 1 so when I see a reference to this vendor I warn CAVEAT EMPTOR (buyer beware) and caution that they research that vendor. I can honestly say that in reading some 30+ forums per day I have yet to see a negative mention of NBS. Are there other vendor s with good reputations ? Yes, and this allows that with some research you should be able to make an educated decision on from whom to buy from the viewpoint of a personal recommendation. These endorsements are probably the primary source of buying decisions in most people.There are other things to consider. Price is always a factor but pricing can be misleading and you can buy something at a good price and never get the product or not get it on time. So you must add to your criteria some sense of how dependable the vendor is at on time shipping and whether or not they actually have the product you want in stock. Another factor of pricing is the old apples to apples analogy. Are you receiving the same product and service with the lower priced item? Many online dealers will lure you in with low pricing but you have to pay the freight or you find that what they are selling is a trimmed down version that is missing certain parts that you will have to buy separately.Finally how do you feel about how you were treated in the transaction? Did you get answers promptly and in a friendly manner? Did you feel that you are indeed going to get what you ordered when promised? Why is that important? If something does go wrong you will be dealing with the same people and the same corporate philosophy. If you were treated badly or haphazardly during the sale how do you think you will be treated if you have a problem?In summation and in preference to National Builder Supply you can expect the following:
1. Fair pricing with a price matching guarantee.
2. Pricing which offers free freight if the order is over $100 and a reasonable flat rate freight charge otherwise.
3. Pricing which includes a guarantee that you will get all that you need with the product. No short cuts. No side trips to the local "Big Box Store" for parts and pieces.
4. NBS maintains a large inventory of the merchandise its sells and rarely depends on second party to ship your purchase. This allows that if you are told the product is in stock and that it will ship tomorrow you can bank on it. This is not the cheapest way to do business. Most vendors don’t stock anything. They depend on secondary distribution sources to fulfill their orders thus losing control of your order the moment it’s placed. They have to depend on someone else to enforce their promises.
5. Fast, friendly customer service whether you are buying, inquiring or, in the unlikely event that there is a problem.6. Lastly study the forums and the internet, “google” dealers and look for problems and compliments.I am certain you will be satisfied with your experience with my friends at NBS.I’m confident that if you compare these items to any other online vendor of building supplies you will see that NBS is at least one to consider. I would not be conceited enough, nor would they, to say they are the only one and I know my friends well enough to know that they don’t think for a minute that you don’t have a choice…you do and that’s why they try so hard to never let you down.”
In closing I hope that folks will keep searching for reasons to buy from NBS and in the process will come across me and read some of the helpful information that I try to disseminate along the way. As always I welcome your comments, questions and complaints.
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