You work part time, three days a week.

You contact three firms to bid for some work for you, during a lunchtime early in the week.

The first one calls you back that afternoon, talks through your questions and what they need to hear from you, is flexible, and at your request produces a quote the same day.

The second sits on your request for three days, calls you during non-work time, promises a call-back on monday, actually calls back on tuesday, promises to send you some forms you must complete in order to obtain a quote, and calls back again ten minutes later to get your e-mail address which you helpfully point out was attached to your original request.

The third sits on your request for a more than a week, calls you back, takes information, identifies an issue which prevents them moving forwards at all until they get an answer from you, escalates that matter internally to themselves, refuses to budge; you find an answer to give them – at which point they sit on the request for a further 1.5 days, send you a PDF quotation and then phone you back in non-work-time (of which they admit they are aware) saying that it is important that you get back in touch with them to confirm receipt of the quote, because all of a sudden there’s a rush on and somehow that is now your problem.

Oh, and the quote is 3x bigger than the first organisation.

Who do you think is gonna get the business?