My wife and I recently returned from a vacation that she worked hard to plan for months. It’s been quite a while since I have had a full week away from the office. I’m not sure about you, but for me, even when I’m on vacation, I’m thinking about work. Specifically, I am thinking about how The Lifestyle Group can be better for our clients.
Throughout the trip, I compared how our daily interactions with the staff, excursions and other day-to-day experiences made me feel and compared that to how we make our clients feel. For example, to get to our destination, we had to get on a relatively small plane. As people are inclined to do, passengers rushed to line up to get on this small plane. An argument ensued between a group of passengers and an airline worker that was explaining they were not getting on the plane and had to wait for the next one. After an extensive amount of loud conversation, the group got on that plane.
Guess who had to wait for the next one two hours later? Yep, that would be us! Was it the end of the world? No, but I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t concerned they would let us on the next plane. While they did get us on the next flight, I’m not inclined to speak highly of that experience based on the actions of the airline.
Several hours later in the very same day, however, we had quite a different experience. We had arrived at our destination, got settled in our room and ran to a small shop at the resort to grab a few items for our days ahead.
It was a small store that had everything from drinks to suntan lotion and many things in between. So, we gathered some snacks and drinks for our room for the next few days, including a six pack of Corona Light. (Oh yeah, my wife and I get crazy on vacation!) Now, if you have ever met my wife, you know she loves her limes! Her “go to” drink for an evening out is a margarita on the rocks with salt – and extra limes! If I ever get a lime with one of my drinks, she’s taking it for hers.
Now, I’m looking around this little store and I see aspirin and I see branded shirts and hats…but what I am not seeing is a refrigerator of limes. So, I looked at my wife and laughed as the question was innocently asked, “Do you sell limes here?” At that point, I expected the polite response of, “No, I am sorry we do not.”
But that is not the response we received.
The employee said, “Excuse me for a moment. I will be right back.” He then left us in the store alone and disappeared. A few minutes later he came back with four fresh limes.
This individual went to the kitchen of the resort restaurant and brought back four limes for my wife.
WOW!
Now, why do I tell you this story?
I tell you this because in the remodeling world, we strive to be a “four limes” company. Quite honestly, I think that we are about 88% of the time. The other 12% is never for lack of effort, but we always have room to grow.
What does it mean to be a four limes company in the remodeling industry? To me, it starts with outstanding people who care. They live our core values in how they carry themselves. Quite simply, they do what is right, always do their best and treat others the way they want to be treated themselves. Those are the basics.
When we clean up at the end of every day, we do that to leave an impression on our clients that we care, that’s a lime! When we stop what we are doing to help a client move something or complete another small task that has nothing to do with our project, that’s a lime! When we stage the products for a project at our warehouse instead of taking up a client’s garage, that’s a lime! When a client has a picture of a product they liked and we spend hours tracking it down, you guessed it — that’s a lime!
Every day, we work hard to earn your trust. It starts with the impression you get in our initial conversation, and it continues through the last day we leave your home after a completed project. I tell people all the time that it is hard to explain the level of service we strive to provide, but you will understand when you experience it.
And we do all of this is with one goal in mind: We appreciate the first project you give us, but what we want is to be your trusted partner for all the subsequent projects you have. Oh, and we want the opportunity to earn the projects of your friends, family and coworkers as well if it isn’t too much to ask!
With this, there is a phrase that I love: “It’s never crowded along the extra mile.”
How many people in today’s day and age will truly go above and beyond? How many companies in the home improvement industry have the reputation for doing that? At The Lifestyle Group, we have earned that reputation. We do it ONE LIME at a time and we can proudly give you a lengthy list of clients who will verify this to be true. Are we perfect? Far from it actually! But there is no doubt we care and will do whatever we can to make you happy. We won’t leave something undone, and we are committed to earning all your business for years to come.
And just how much did those four limes mean? I can tell you that owners of the vacation destination I just stayed at earned my loyalty. I’ve told countless people about it. I’ve thought about how it impacts my company and our clients. And I just spent an hour writing about it to share the story with you.
That is exactly how we want to leave our clients at the end of what is often a very long vacation with us in their homes. Just kidding, we know living through a remodel is never a vacation, but it might be a good reason to get yourself a six pack of Corona Lights. If you’d like, we will bring the limes!
If this blog generates any questions for you, feel free to email us or call to ask. We’d be honored to partner with you for your remodeling project — limes included.