If you’re getting ready for a move, finding the right professional movers in Houston is step one. Professional moving companies greatly expedite the time it takes to get the job done. For families who need to move quickly, rapidly relocating may also save money.

A challenge for every family, though, is to identify a professional team that can be trusted. Ultimately, the decision will come down to a local moving business or a mover that operates at a national or international level.

For most moves, sticking with a local moving crew is recommended, for several reasons. Four of these reasons include:

1) Local Movers Are Incentivized to Provide Strong Customer Service

Local moving professionals have a presence in their community. They have a physical location that customers can visit, which means they have to answer to their customers face-to-face. They have to build up a positive reputation among people in their area. They rely on word of mouth and referrals from family and friends to ensure customers keep coming in through the door.

In short, local movers are accountable to the local customers they serve, because a single negative review can cause a lot of reputation damage. That’s not always the case with national companies as it’s not as vital to maintain their reputation in particular markets.

Local companies have to continue earning their business, which means delivering excellent service to every customer.

2) Local Moving Companies May Cost Less Than National Companies

Local moving teams are much smaller in scale than their national counterparts, but that’s an advantage to customers. As smaller businesses, local movers don’t have the overhead that national movers do. It costs a lot of money to maintain a presence in so many markets, and those costs are frequently passed on to the client.

Local movers can operate with a lower overhead and provide a superior estimate.

There’s always the “name brand” cost that’s associated with national movers. Well-marketed national movers are able to get away with charging more, as they capture many of their customers through marketing and advertising.

3) Local Moving Companies Know Their Service Area

Experienced local movers know their service area like the back of their hand and can get around the city without issue. That’s invaluable in a city as large and spread out as Houston.

With their in-depth familiarity of their service area, local moving companies are much better at staying on schedule and accounting for everything that may interfere with the job. Traffic patterns, construction sites, faster side roads – local movers know how to make the most of every minute while in transit.

Contrast this with national companies, which may only have a cursory idea of the city layout. In many cases, this means delays to and from the house. Clients may pay for the extra time spent in traffic, too, so it’s not just time you’ll lose out on.

4) Local Moving Services are More Likely to Have Storage Facilities

Established local movers are likely to have storage facilities in their service area, so they can provide additional room for any items that won’t fit in the new place. And if the same moving company is providing storage, it’s convenient to unload everything off the truck that will fit, and let the movers take the rest of the items to storage.

When hiring a national mover, there’s no guarantee that they will have storage facilities close to the customer. If there’s a space-related emergency, the client may have no choice but to hire a second company to provide storage. That’s cumbersome and costly – in time and money.

5) Local Movers Can Provide High Quality Moving Equipment and Materials

Local moving companies maintain their reputation through excellent service, and part of that is ensuring all necessary resources are ready for the job. And by resources, this means a large enough truck, plenty of manpower, and high-quality equipment and materials.

An experienced moving team should have everything they need to safely move everything in the home, including furniture and appliances. The tools of the trade include dollies, durable boxes, furniture pads, packing materials, protective covers, ropes and harnesses. Some moving crews can even bring powered dollies or a crane to the job for particularly challenging items.

National movers may have some of these resources, too, but with locations spread far and wide, critical equipment may not be available when it’s needed most.

When Shopping Around for a Moving Company, Shop Local

There are thousands of moving companies operating around the country, some of them local in scope and some of them national. From the customer’s perspective, it may not seem like there’s a major difference between local and national movers simply because they both move stuff, right?

However, there is a difference. Local moving companies are customer-driven, familiar with their area, less costly, and better equipped to manage a wide range of local moves. Add it all up and it’s clear that local moving companies have the advantage in Houston.