Lessons Learned: Working With Service Providers

I recently met an HVAC contractor, James, to clean & check our boiler. He gave it one look & got, well, cocky. He scoffed at a component that another boiler pro installed the year prior, saying "you should have done this like you did the other building”, adding “but you didn’t hire us to do that either”. (AWKWARD!) I leapt to our defense, “Well we did that work before we met you!” 

James spouted off a laundry list of strongly suggested improvements. Basically, necessities. Last year, the pro we hired had suggestions too, but looking back, I think it was more about telling us what we wanted to hear. Their solutions were inexpensive but wound up costing us more money, time & frustration. So here we are.

Reflecting upon experiences I’ve had with service providers, I’ve realized that I prefer the expert that has the courage to be frank with me. “The customer is always right” just isn't true. As a professional, it's a disservice to your customer to go along with something that you know isn't in their best interest.

Sure, James could have been friendlier, but I appreciated his honesty. He didn’t dance around the fact that we paid someone to make a big mess- he just told us. His knowledge & assertiveness gave us confidence that we could trust him.

While being 100% honest can be awkward at times, it’s the only way we operate, too. It’s not always easy (like when a client works their butt off to stage their home, but it still smells like smoke) but we would not be best serving them if we weren’t completely honest.

One thing that we can promise is that our interactions will always be kind, respectful, and, when necessary, peppered with solutions to overcome whatever obstacle stands in the way. This is why nearly all of our business comes from referrals & past clients. It’s how we get homes sold for top dollar & it’s how we get our clients into the homes of their dreams.