After a massive week of production this week (one of our highest ever), I got to thinking and I started to wonder and work out why we were so busy.
Is it because we keep it fresh and love our job every day? Maybe...
Or is it because we get referral after referral after referral all the time...? Maybe.
Is it because we genuinely care for the properties & people we service, and that we really want to make an impact on our industry in more than just one way??? Maybe.
But actually, I think it runs a lot deeper than even this...
It brings me back to a story. A somewhat magic story a friend once told me. One day we were hunched over the side of a house (hanging off the roof actually), hands dirty from toil, sweat beading and we were laughing at the crazy situation we were in at that moment-we were about to drop ourselves down a small opening in a wall to get to something an old lady needed back urgently-her cat. We couldn't help but laugh at the crazy tasks we put our hand up to help with. If it's one thing I know, we love a challenge and a good laugh, and we definitely love to help.
So, we're sitting there, contemplating the silliness we were about to put ourselves in (actually, the silliness I was about to put HIM in🧐😱🤣) and I ask him why he thinks its important for us to do these extra types of jobs our customers sometimes ask us to do. Why is it that we put up our hand to help, and why is it that day by day, as Window Cleaners, we love what we do.
So he says, with an almost concerned, deep furrowed look on his face (as though what he was about to say was the key to unlocking all of the secrets of the universe, and I was the only fool for not already knowing this. AND I was expecting him to put on his famous Morgan Freeman voice):
“Leigh, my friend-people dont want a 5mm drill bit. They want a 5mm hole. (At this point I was blank with a dismayed misunderstanding of what he was on about. Maybe the heat was getting to him?).
"But wait, thats not what they really want. What they really want is a hook that fits in the 5mm hole. But HANG ON (no pun intended😂), thats not all they want. What they really, reeeeeally want, in actual fact, is the painting that hangs on the hook thats in that 5mm hole in the wall, to be displayed in the grand entrance to their beautiful home of their beautiful wife and kids.
Ok, I thought to myself 'Now we're getting closer to the punch line', so I let him continue.
"But wait. Theres more...
"What they REEEEEALLLLY want is the feeling they get when they see the picture hanging on the hook IN THAT 5mm HOLE that THEY drilled. They want the pride of knowing they drilled that hole, they want the credit from their beautiful wife that the picture looks amazing, they want their friends to visit and see the stunning painting, and feel the pride and love in their home as their guests. And they want the amazing feeling of coming home every evening to a beautifully decorated house with a fantastic feeling of opulence that was created.
All by that 5mm hole."
Ok. The penny dropped. Two things at play here:
1. I have a brilliant team around me that I genuinely love working with every day.
and
2. Why it makes total sense that our customers use our Window Cleaning, Gutter Cleaning and Pressure Washing services. Its the FEELING. The pride and the opulence. The freshness. The trust we offer and sometimes the good conversation. The regained view of the ocean through clean windows. The relaxed state of mind from a freshly cleaned house.
And the list could literally go on for miles.
I get it. I have a renewed purpose now. And I know my team will always be smiling so long as we are all aligned with this idea of WHY we do WHAT we do.
Have a great day my friends. And have a fantastic rest of the year leading up to Chritsmas with family & friends and the new, exciting year of 2019.
This is our time. We have freedoms that many can only long for. Enjoy them and spread the love. And lets make things better, buy making better things.
All the best- Leigh & the A-Team at LWC.
