Patience is a Virtue
We have been talking about Dave Lupberger’s 8 attributes homeowners most desire in their
service provider and the very noteworthy fact that price ranks number eight on their list of priorities. As a quick reminder those 8 attributes in order of importance are:
- Good listening skills
- Good communication skills
- A positive, non-adversarial attitude
- The demonstration of understanding and patience
- A relationship-oriented approach
- Honesty and integrity
- Personal responsibility
- Fair price
In my last post I talked about maintaining a positive, non-adversarial attitude. Today I want to look at demonstrating understanding and patience.
Whatever our field, it is very likely that when a homeowner needs us, there is some fear and anxiety on their part. Whether it is a grudge purchase like repairing some fence that blew down, or a remodel project; at the outset they likely don’t even know what questions they should be asking.
How do you suppose that feels for them? In the absence of even knowing what questions to ask what are they going to fall back on? That’s right; price. So we can say “here’s your estimate let me know if you have any questions” and keep our fingers crossed or we can demonstrate understanding and patience by taking the time to educate our potential customers.
We can review frequently asked questions, we can provide some context to the estimate by explaining what we are going to do, why we are going to do it that way as well as the materials we will be using and why they are the best for the project. This will build trust and confidence. As we work with homeowners on a project we might have many opportunities to respond to questions, concerns or even emotional outbursts with either a lack of understanding and impatience which will make things worse or we can respond with understanding and patience.
Whatever our field we have all been in situations where we didn’t even know what to ask. If we can remember the fear and helplessness that we felt in such situations (perhaps dealing with a doctor or a lawyer) it should help us summon up the patience and understanding that will result in a satisfied homeowner that will refer friends, family and neighbors to us.
Mitch Anderson is currently a training manager at ServiceMagic. In former lives he worked in the construction trades (as a laborer, hanging and finishing drywall, framing, painting, roofing and HVAC) and practiced law for 15 years. He has been married to his high school sweetheart Judy since 1978 and they have three children – Josh, Zach and Jessica.
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