As hardwood floor pros, we are always striving to use the best products, the latest gear and the newest tech we can get our hands on. Being at the forefront of the hardwood flooring industry takes a lot of effort. Usually our minds would go to offering the highest quality flooring, the longest lasting finish topcoats, and well-ordered, dustless job sites. All of those things should be top priority, but what actually keeps every one of us in business?
People. Personal connections with people.
I’ve been blessed with feeling comfortable around new people I meet. I talk a lot (sometimes too much), but it has served me well in getting to know and build relationships with new clients and existing customers. In Malcom Gladwell’s book “Blink,” he explains how we all make subconscious snap judgments and decisions about many things, but most importantly, about people. Our prospective clients are making these snap judgments about us (and we of them) in that very first phone call! Before we even meet face to face, our interaction with folks is very important.
A quote from Maya Angelou goes, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
I sometimes have a hard time doing this particular thing, but it is so critical in building lasting relationships with customers: Listen! Just listen to them. If the little old lady you met to look at her floors wants to tell you about the issues she’s been having with her cat, just listen to her. If I am with a customer and my phone rings, unless it’s my wife, I do not answer that call. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but if you answer a call or text in front of a customer, they just became No. 2 on your importance list. On the other hand, when someone feels they are your only priority at the moment, that strikes a chord that keeps humming for a long, long time.
One good, personal interaction a customer has with you on their job site (very likely in their home) could possibly get you 50 or even a 100 other jobs, because those people were so impressed with your character and quality of work they just became your free, lifelong salespeople. These personal connections we build with people are like compounding interest in the stock market. They grow and multiply in ways we couldn’t have imagined.
I know that many of you successful pros out there know exactly what I'm talking about here. Those of us who have been established for a while probably aren't advertising anymore, because our happy customers willingly shout our praises from the rooftops.
In conclusion, always remember: That wood floor you did for someone will eventually lose its luster, but how you made someone feel will never be forgotten.
