How much are you willing to pay for a service?

In the recent months I've been looking for the perfect job and I'm sure all the people who interviewed me were doing the same thing. And I always considered their part in the interviews and how much are the willing to pay for my work. Some of the offers were truly ridiculous and I wondered how they are going to find a person to fill that position with that kind of a salary. Demands being high and pay being low...

And then something interesting occurred. On my ew six week contract in DC I started looking for the perfect place to park my car. A car that I'm very attached to. A car that I actually miss on my vacations and long to hear it purr beneath me as we go through short and long journeys and errands in the town. Anyhow you get the point. I love my car.

I looked around for a good parking garage - tried as many as 10 different places in the course of 3 weeks and I was amazed that I actually ended up going to the same place over and over. A parking place that charges $16 a day. Why? Because they took really good care of me and my car. After a few days when the parking attendant learned my daily habits he always had my car ready for me right by the entrance. One day he actually apologized for not having the car ready for me! He didn't waste my time with going and finding the car in the parking lot.

And so I was/am still amazed that I'm willing to pay $16 a day for parking where I can easily find $13. But the cheaper ones did not offer the kind of unexpected service that this parking lot gives me. The smiling faces with the nice greeting I get each day. I come back to it day in and day out and I know once my work contract is over, it's the Parking Lot attendants that I'm really going to miss. I'll miss Omar & Julio.

There is a lesson to be learned. It doesn't matter what kind of business you are in. As long as you do a great job at it you'll be appreciated and no matter what is it you do there is always room for improvement and the improvements don't have to "wow" you. The can be simple things such as just saying hello and remembering your customers. I love these guys. If you are ever in DC you really should park there and see what I mean:

Central Parking
1250 Connecticut Avenue
Washington, DC 20037