Validate Your Clients

Our car started making a weird (and concerning) sound when accelerating, so we took it into the shop. Naturally, the mechanic couldn’t replicate the sound when he drove it. Did he say, “Sorry we can’t help you?” No. He said, “I believe you. Come in and drive it like you do and see if it makes the noise.” Did it make the noise? Of course not.

STILL he said, “Look, I believe you. Here are the 3-4 things it could be and here is why it’s not making the sounds right now. Your car isn’t falling apart and it’s still ok to drive. Unfortunately, we just need a little bit more information to figure it out. Continue driving it and make notes of when you hear it. Come back in 2 weeks and we will see where we are.” Did I get charged for it? No.

His response had 4 components:

1) He validated me. I was starting to question my own thinking, but he affirmed that the sound I heard was something that could happen. He BELIEVED ME.

2) He gave me straight forward information and showed he really knew what was going. He didn’t beat around the bush and cut right to the possible issues, from least to very expensive and didn’t shy away from those.

3) He assured me everything was ok. He let me know that at this moment there was nothing seriously wrong and that we could get it addressed quickly. It was still very early in the process.

4) He gave me a plan. While there wasn’t anything to fix at the moment, he clearly laid out a path forward that would help get us to a point of finding a solution.

This mechanic has earned my repeat business. He set himself apart through his customer service and expertise. He handled a concerned client with ease and left me feeling great. As business owners, we know our clients are valuable, and we need to treat them that way. The next time you have an issue come up with a client, think back to the 4 components of this response, and remember to treat them well!