White Papers & Articles

Think back to the last time you had a service company over at your home to do work.  I’ll bet you’re like most people I talk with who seem overjoyed to talk through the fiery details about their hellacious contractor experiences where hopes for good services are incinerated by severely, underwhelming contractors who still somehow render work for top dollar.

Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, many of us have similar stories to share when it comes to less than stellar service experiences.  Our dismal experience with service provides can be boiled down to a lack of two characteristics: passion and care.  In my most humble of opinions the reason why we experience poor service is because those providing it fall short in the areas of being passionate about what they do and caring to deliver a great experience.  I thought I would forever be in the service abyss until two guys from a mobile window screen company completely changed my perspective on what’s possible.

My wife and I recently decided to finally deal with some house repairs we’ve been putting off for a couple years and without a referral went online to find some help.  I, my typical skeptical self, wasn’t expecting anything special.  Frankly, I just hoped they would actually show up and not break anything in the process.  Yes, we’ve experienced much of this in the past.  Were we doomed to be saddled with lackluster help?  I certainly thought so.

Until these two guys showed up!

Tony and Saul of T&S Mobile Screen Services arrived on the scene ready to up the ante and deliver a service I’m still trying to comprehend in all of its majestic glory.  I’m writing this article because it needs to be said and perhaps recognized that good service DOES still exist in the world.  I also own a services business myself that was started primarily because of this very issue – there seem to be endless companies offering bleak services which fall short of delivering a ‘Wow Factor’.  That said, as a quick disclaimer, I’m not an employee of T&S, this isn’t a paid advertisement nor was I asked to write this.  I’m simply just a happy customer wanting to share a good word about a great small business.

So, what did T&S Mobile Screen Services do which made such a phenomenal impact on us?  Let’s go through the experience start to finish:

• Upon arrival (which was on-time, so right there T&S was already starting off on a good note) Tony, one of the owners, notified me they were at our house and ready for us
• When I greeted Tony at the front door he must have noticed we don’t wear shoes in our house so he immediately put on booties; he didn’t ask if he needed to he just did it with a smile
• As he walked in our home Tony handed me his business card, gave a firm handshake accompanied by some old school good eye contact; this told me he understood the importance of first impressions and values respect and professionalism
• He then proceeded to do the same thing with my wife, again very professional and courteous
• His dress, and that of his partners, was clean and professional – these guys were the real McCoy, ready to work
• Tony took charge and asked me to walk him around our house so he could “understand exactly what I needed done”, I loved this because it showed me he cared about my perspective and wanted to ensure their work met my expectations; during the walk around he advised me in two areas which ended up savings us some money – I didn’t ask him to do this, he just did it because it was the right thing to do.  The mark of a good and honest professional!
• During the walk he never once tried to upsell me or convince me of work needing to be done, Tony was very matter of fact and spoke plainly.  Bonus points!
• After the walk around, which lasted only a couple minutes, he took me out to their truck parked in front of our house where a small work station was already set up and this is where they went from good to downright impressive:
  • They were playing classical jazz music in the truck with the windows open; I wouldn’t call myself a jazz lover per say but I’ll openly admit it was incredibly inviting and again showed their desire to create a welcoming environment with their service and presence at our home
  • Tony and Saul demonstrated to me what the new window screens looked like and how they would be installed, this further gave me confidence I had picked a solid product from a reputable business
  • Then they showed me their truck!  It was a Sprinter type van lined floor to ceiling with individual cubbies all organized with a labeled numbering system.  The inside of the van was chock full of equipment and parts yet it was organized like a library.  Even their Dewalt chopsaw was in pristine order glistening in the morning sun.  Never in all the years I’ve been working with service providers and contractors have I seen a work vehicle this clean and well organized.  What it said to me was “we pay attention to detail with our stuff just like we will with yours”.
  • The last part about the truck experience which I thought was clever on their part was they put a damaged screen on an L bracket sitting outside the truck.  Guess what happened next – two of my neighbors passing by on their way to work stopped and started asking questions then took their business cards to schedule service at their homes.  Brilliant.  All they did was hang a damaged screen off a standing bracket.  No signage, no sales pitch.  What it said without words was “if you have one of these (aka a damaged window screen) we can help you just like we’re helping your neighbor”.
• Now that their work was under way they eventually had to go upstairs in our house to access some of the window screens on the second story.  As Tony went up stairs he called out “I’m coming up stairs”, then when he was on the second floor he began whistling in a slow methodic rhythm.  Another genius move on his part.  Tony wanted to make sure his presence was known at all times to the people who live in our house so there wouldn’t be any unexpected or awkward situations.  Again, brilliant on his part as Tony and Saul continued to operate like a class act.
• As they finished their work Tony asked me to do another walk around the house to have me inspect their work in front of him.  It was stellar!  I had not one complaint, and for someone as anal as myself that’s saying a lot
• The payment experience at the end was smooth and without unexpected costs or upselling
• As they closed up their truck and took off I realized they had finished the job in a shorter amount of time than what they had quoted.  Arrived on time and finished early – I wish everyone operated like this!

 
The guys at T&S Mobile Screen Service put on a class on how to run a business that produces both great results and customer experiences.  These guys should get a freakin Emmy Award for their performance!
​
As the day went on I couldn’t stop thinking about the experience.  For Tony and Saul it may have just been another job and another satisfied customer but for me it was something altogether quite different.  It changed my entire mindset about what’s possible.  Now that I’ve experienced this type of service, something akin to a Nordstrom’s experience – maybe even better, I now know this type of experience with contractors and service professionals is possible.  What it really comes down to is being passionate about what you do (whatever that may be) and caring enough to put in a great effort.  Since then I’ve probably told a half dozen people this story, my father and I have now done a podcast on it and I’m writing this article you’re reading now.  If that doesn’t tell you the power of good service I don’t know what to say other than this…

I would happily pay good money to have more experiences like this with service providers and contractors who are passionate about their craft and care to leave a positive lasting impression.  Thanks again to Tony and Saul from T&S Mobile Screen Services, you guys made me a customer for life.

“They gave us world class, but all we needed was the basics.”

​Last week I was speaking with a VP of Quality at a small medical device company at which point he politely complained to me about a recent experience he had with a consultant their company brought onboard.  The company was implementing a new online quality management system (QMS) and was utilizing this consultant to get it up and running.

The VP shared with me his irritation about how the consultant came in and took on the project as an expert in the field.  The consultant had done many QMS implementations prior and came with good recommendations of his work.  As the conversation went on the VP share further irritation about his experience working with the consultant.  He brought in an expert to do a job that was rather straight forward yet that’s not what the company got in the end.  Unfortunately, the consultant failed to understand one of the most important aspects of his job – understand the needs of the customer and implement accordingly.

“We’re a small company, we don’t need all the bells and whistles right now [from a QMS system].  We just need a system that keeps us in compliance while making things easier from a process flow standpoint.”

The VP was sharing with me a painful experience he was having as a result of someone doing work for him and not understanding what was actually needed in the moment to be successful on that project.

Sometimes what’s needed is the basics, not world class.  The key is knowing when each of these is appropriate.

All to often we show up to a project or work with the idea we’re going to dress up the proverbial pig ready for a fancy night out on the town.  This pig of ours is going to look amazing, amazing because of the work we did to get it there.  However, we end up missing the mark because we don’t bother to ask the right questions along the way.  If we had bothered to ask the right questions to understand what was truly needed by the company and the key stakeholders we may find out the ‘pig’ just needs a new pair of shoes, not a whole wardrobe change.

Here’s how this played out in the scenario above with my client and VP…

• The VP brought in a consultant who was highly experienced in implementing QMS’s within the medical device industry
• The consultant forgot to ask a key question of his client, “What does ‘success’ look like at the end of the project?”
• The consultant began implementing a slue of world class initiatives and procedures relative to the new online QMS he was implementing, largely changing the entire quality landscape within the company
• The end result was a new QMS which was overflowing with procedures, metrics and documentation requirements that far surpassed the needs of the customer
• As a result, the client ended up paying an estimated $9,000 more for the project because of the additional hours the consultant billed for the project in implementing a world class quality management system the customer ultimately didn’t need

Here’s the rub on the situation. 

If the consultant had bothered to ask the vital question of their client upfront “What does ‘success’ looks like at the end of the project?” he would have found out the client needed a practical QMS which met the basic needs of their product and regulatory requirements yet did not need a lot of the fancy bells and whistles larger companies utilize with their QMS.

Basically, this small medical device company needed a QMS that was straightforward, basic yet allowed them to upgrade their company to meet the regulatory requirements for their product.  The client wanted a no frills, basic system yet what they got was a world class system they’ll probably never fully utilize.

Key Takeaway:
Don’t assume your work or project requires you to put forth world class service.  Sometimes ‘good enough’ is all that’s needed.  Knowing the different between ‘good enough’ and world class work outputs is a vital skill to develop and implement in your career.

Action Item:
Before you begin your next project at work think to yourself “what’s really needed here?  The basics or something more?”.  Then actually go ask the key stakeholder in charge.  Doing this shows an ability to think big picture with an appreciation for what’s best for the company, not what’s best to make you look good as a result of the work you can do.

Let’s face it, customers (or clients) are what keep us in business.  Without the customer there would be no business, no management, no worker bee, no complimentary coffee that tastes like gym socks in the office kitchen and certainly no revenue.
Customers at the end of the day are the end all be all.  Without a willing customer to buy your product or service you will simply cease to exist.  The customer and the business are not mutually exclusive, they rely on one another to exist, yet the reality is that often times the one who holds the most influence in the relationship is the customer.
Influence, or power for that matter, has a strange way of changing how people act at times, creating monsters out of women and men.
When customers become tough to deal with many times what we see on the outside isn’t the full picture, to get to the bottom of it we need to dive deeper into the issue to truly understand that persons irritation or frustrations. 
Which reminds me of an old story from another lifetime back when I was in high school.  I was a server at a small pizza restaurant in the town I grew up in.  I loved the job because I got to eat pizza all day long and interact with some really cool people, our customers.  Let’s call it like it is, everyone’s happy when they’re getting pizza, so needless to say I really loved this job.
One day a customer came in to pick up a pizza to-go.  I had served this customer many times before and what happened that day was the same as every other time we would interacted with this gentleman.  He came in and immediately started frothing at the mouth about how his last purchase with our restaurant was awful as he yelled about how it was never on time and ‘the pizza sauce sucked’.  "There are never enough pepperoni's on the pizza", he would say.  In typical fashion he would then ask to speak with the manager and demand a discount, which most of the time we gave him.  It was like groundhogs day, same thing every time with little deviation.  I always laughed to myself because he just kept coming back for more like some evil self-inflicted punishment. 
I remember thinking to myself, "If our service and food was really that bad, why did he keep coming back?"
One day our manager finally had enough and confronted the man.  I’d love to say it was me but I was a pimply faced 16 year old and certainly not gutsy enough to speak back to a customer and risk losing my pizza privileges, or job for that matter.  The restaurant manager interrupted the man’s banter, took him a side and asked, “Sir, why do you continue to give us your business if you dislike our food so much.  You seem awfully upset and often treat my employees rather poor.  Is everything okay?”
As I ease dropped in on the conversation I was shocked at the response from the customer.
“I’m sorry Tim. (our manager’s name)  I was fired from my job a couple months ago, as a result I lost my house so I’m living out of my car and pizza is the cheapest, easiest thing for me to eat.  Please let your staff know how much I appreciate them as they are always nice to me, even though I’m not a very pleasant person myself.”
WOW!
My mouth dropped to the floor.  None of us knew why this person was always such an irritable grump, we just knew that when he came in the door he was always angry and seemed to enjoy taking it out on the servers.
Our manager decided to give him the pizza he ordered for free and invited him back the following day so that the man could watch our team go through the process of making pizzas.  The manager wanted him to see that the food was good quality and we cared about our customers.  He also threw in a free lunch for the guy, more than I would of done, certainly. 
Best part of the story was after the customers ‘field trip’ to our restaurant ended that following day our manager offered him a job delivering pizzas so he could earn some money until he was able to get back on his feet.
I learned an incredibly valuable lesson that day which taught me to take the time to confront tough situations rather than let those situations own me in the process.  As a result I’m a firm believer that you attract more bees with honey than you do with sledgehammers.
Once we understand what is driving a customer to act in a certain way we can then respond with a solution that hopefully changes the course of the relationship moving forward.
These 5 steps are a great way to get to the bottom of your customers frustrations so you can then start focusing on turning around the relationship:

1. Try to understand where they’re coming from, get deep, asking lots of questions while focusing on listening to their answers
2. Learn what’s most important to them
3. Focus on being solution oriented, especially when mistakes happen
4. Get personal with them (so they know you’re a person too)
5. Before you let a client go, ask if you’ve done everything within your power to make the relationship successful

After you’ve spent the time mending your relationship take a moment to reflect on how/ if things have changed.  Is your relationship better or worse with your customer?  If the answer is worse than it might be time to rethink the relationship once again and potentially move on.  At least at this point you can make that decision knowing you’ve done everything within your ability to make things work. 
“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.” - Wayne Dyer