Guest Post: You Get What You Pay For…In File Tabs and Organizing Consultants

You Get What You Pay For…

In File Tabs and Organizing Consultants

by Barbara Hemphill, CPO®

Recently I was placing an order for plastic file tabs for hanging folders to use with a client who was installing Taming the Paper Tiger software. The premium brand cost $4.15 for 25 labels while the competition offered them for exactly half the price.  Seemed like a “no brainer” – after all, how much difference can a file tab make?  (Besides, I was ordering several hundred, so we’re talking about a significant investment for something as simple and mundane as file folders!) 

Turns out, when I got to the job, it made a big difference! 

The cheaper tabs stand up straight instead of at a slant, so they are difficult to read.  You can bend them – but sometimes they break, and it’s virtually impossible to bend them all at the same angle, so even then they look sloppy.   How annoying!

Actually, the same proves true with the file folders themselves.  With premium folders, inserting the plastic tabs is easy because there’s no glue to get in the way.  In addition, over the years, the files continue to work because the glue holds and you don’t have a metal strip in your hand and papers in the bottom of the file cabinet!

I remembered the advice I used to give my daughter when she was buying clothes – “price per wear” I called it.  It’s better to spend more money on a handbag you carry every day than a prom dress you wear once. 

Then I remembered what we tell people who inquire about our organizing services and find out we don’t cost $35/hour like other organizers in the community.  “Why are you so expensive?” people ask.  Depends on how you look at it.  You can pay someone $200 to organize your office and two years (or even two months) later it’s a mess again or you can pay $2,000 and be organized for the rest of your life (and gain a new client you wouldn’t have had if you lost the business card or didn’t follow up at the right time).  Which one is the real bargain?

So what’s the difference in a $200 service and a $2,000 solution?  A $200 service may solve the organizing problem for days or even months, while a $2,000 solution addresses not only the physical disorganization, but the specific needs and working style of the client.  This approach can solve the problem for a lifetime by providing a comprehensive program which addresses the three components of a successful organizing solution: 1) methodology 2) mechanics and 3) maintenance.

Wish I had remembered to tell myself “You get what you pay for” before I bought the cheap plastic file tabs!   I’m still using the same hanging file folders that I installed in my office over 10 years ago when we first installed our paper management software.  I use the folders multiple times every week, and the tabs work just as well and look just as good now as they did when we installed them. 

Next time I’ll remember…You get what you pay for…