I have been in customer service and sales in technical fields for over 36 years. There is always someone who will do it cheaper. But I like to remind my customers, price is what you pay, value is what you get.
I've been in the agronomy sales business for the last 16 years. It is hard to compare apples to apples on fertilizer. You have to know your product and your competitions' products and practices as well. I've seen people make bad decisions, find they received no support from the low price guy they bought from, and call me for help. Depending on the circumstances, sometimes I did. Other times, there just wasn't anything I could do, as bad as I hated it.
In addition to my UAV license, I am also a licensed auctioneer in the state of Georgia. And as bad as it sounds and distasteful as it might be to some of you, one thing you had better get used to doing is reporting unlicensed activity. Real estate folks are some of the worst as mentioned in an earlier post. But God help you if you try to sell a piece of real estate without joining the guild. I had what I thought was a friend. A fellow auctioneer who also handles real estate. They were going to hire me to handle their photography. I dropped by the office one day unannounced and met a new employee. A young lady in her early 20's. They had bought them a drone and she was going to take the test and get her a license. I asked a few basic questions that told me all I needed to know. I wish them the best. I am sure they are operating illegally now.
Car dealers are rabid protectors of their niche' as well. I ran an occaisional vehicle through my personal property auction, well within the law. But the owner of the local auto auction showed up to check me out one week. Just to make sure I wasn't getting over on him. In order to do regular auctions of more than just a few automobies per year, you have to be a licensed auctioneer, as well as a member of the Automobile Dealers Association and the Used Car Dealers Association, etc, etc. You have to belong to the guild.
And in cars and auctions in general your biggest source of complaints about your activities come from other operators. Its a jealous world.
One idea would be to start a register of unlicensed activity and post it online. It could be sort of an Angies List for UAV pilots. No legal repurcussions. Nothing but a list of suspected commercial activity where no licenses are known to exist. Thats one idea. And there may already be one, but an easily referenced index of licensed UAV pilots tailored for easy consumer usage might be another useful tool.
And never miss a chance to educate the consumer. I did a short video on a procedure to condition golf course greens. I used my Phantom, my Hero 4 with gimbal, my Power Director 15. All of my modest bag of tricks. It got over 2,000 views in the community. And on the opening screen I placed a cautionary statement about always using a licensed UAV pilot. I suggest any of you who have the opportunity to do this as well. Put your FAA certification on your business cards and letterhead. Say it loud and proud. We want the consumers to ask that question, "Are you an FAA licensed pilot?".
But ultimately, quality and professionalism will be your best defense. Second to that, a strong supporting association. That being said, if my nearly 40 years as a low level flunky in the business world can provide any help or insight to a fellow pilot, please let me know. I'd love to help.
OK, I will put the soap box away for now. Sorry for the rant. I will start another elsewhere...
Blue Skys and Fair Winds to all.