Callling Out Bluffs (February 2007)

  Do you recognize some (or all) of these questions? When I hear these questions while investigating a problem and the homeowner keeps asking the same questions in a different way, I know something’s amiss.
  So, I decide to throw my cards on the table and ask to see theirs as well. I simply look the customer right in the eye and ask plainly, “Is this your first home with stone?”
  It’s a very bold question. If not asked in the right manner, and by someone with experience, it could offend someone.
  But, it’s also a very important question, because it allows the customer to be honest with you. It also shows customes that you have been in this situation before and you will care for them in a concerned way.
  In a sense, it puts you back in charge of a situation that the customer is afraid to control but also doesn’t know if they can trust you to direct them.
  When asked in the right way, soon after the customer starts leading you around to one “problem” after another, the customer is actually relieved that you truly understand them. If asked too soon by a contractor with inexperience – and to a customer who’s always lived with stone – it’s a express ticket to the end of the driveway.
  The purpose of the question isn’t to offend, but to take back control of the situation. (No one would want to be on a bus if the driver was blind.) Once you have calmly taken control, you can head down a detailed path – sort of like going on a scenic tour with a guide as opposed to a wild police chase with a 16-year-old driver.
  The key to the successful delivery of the question, as well, is in how you ask it. Don’t take the tone of a mother barking away as you crawl into the house at 2 a.m. Ask it in a manner like you are looking to genuinely help them, like a flight attendant asking if this is your first time on a plane.
  Once all the cards are out on the table, no one needs to feel uncomfortable or insecure. You can carry on in a frank and honest discussion and get things accomplished. After all, isn’t that what everyone wants? The customer wants a solution, and you want a happy customer (Remember that a happy customer = money).
  The customer can then tell you exactly what they want. You don’t have to assume what they need, or think that they’re bluffing you into believing that something is your fault and not theirs, or that their stone isn’t perfect.
  Case in point: We sealed some limestone floors. Two weeks after we did the job, the customer noticed scratches and etch marks. The customer assumed that the sealer would protect against this, and therefore my company would have to fix it.
  I‘d already explained what would happen before we sealed it. I left them proper documentation on the care and cleaning of the limestone, but someone hadn’t apparently read or understood the points.
  After asking the so-vital question, the homeowner realized that they were inexperienced and that what I had told them earlier was true. They then asked how they could live with their floors without going nuts over scratches and etches. Now I had the opportunity to educate them on the importance of proper care and maintenance.
  I explained to them that most people coming into the home do not notice every spot and scratch. The homeowners know what’s there, so they focus on it; visitors don’t. It’s just like my truck; I know all the scratches and chips in the paint, but none of my clients or people on the expressway notice them at all.
  To illustrate this, I showed a picture on a flyer. I asked the customer what made the picture visible. I then explained that each picture was made up of thousands upon thousands of tiny drops of ink. Separately, these drops are unnoticeable; together, they make up this picture.
  Think of the floors in the same way. When everything adds up to be noticeable, then it’s time to have us come in and resurface it. I also said I didn’t mind coming in every week to take her money and to remove this scratch and that spot over there, but that it would be more-economical for her to save those spots for every year or two if she could live with them.
  Now I have another regular customer who loves her stone, accepts its limitations, and wouldn’t think about trusting anyone but my company with it. Why? Because I cared, and I showed her that I understood her. I didn’t try to make her feel dumb or inexperienced. I just made her feel comfortable by letting her know I recognized she needed help by asking the right question at the right time.
  It’s not just with homeowners, either. A tile store called me about his installation of Saltillo tile, and said that the customer is unhappy and rude. The tile guy goes on to say that he sealed it twice with a premium impregnating sealer, and that the customers says that it was sealed improperly and, and a result, isn’t happy with how it looks. The customer claims it should look shiny.
  I meet with the guy at the tile store, and he shows me samples of what he did and samples of what the customer wants. I look him in the eye (without anyone around) and ask him, “This is the first time you’ve installed Saltillo isn’t it?”
  “How did you know?” he asked.
  “Because every homeowner with Saltillo who has ever been to Mexico wants their kitchen to look like the hotels down there,” I said. “When the customer means they want their Saltillo sealed, they want it shiny, not impregnated.”
  The inexperience of both the homeowner and the tile store led them both to misunderstand the difference between topical and impregnating sealers. I explained to him that even though topical sealers are a lot of work, some homeowners (especially with Saltillo) want the shiny look. Because labor is cheap south of the border and VOC laws are non-existent, many types of topical sealer are widely available and not expensive to reapply. Up north, it’s a different story.
  When we both went to the customer’s house, the lady was stone-faced and cold. She explained that it was never sealed properly. When I asked her if she wanted it to look like the hotels down in Mexico, she lit up like a fireworks display and said, “Yes, how did you know?”
  And how did I know? Because I hate playing games with people. Put your cards on the table and let’s get to work.
  Until next time, keep your stick on the ice. And know how the right way to ask the right question.
  Tom McNall is founder and owner of Great Northern Stone Care, a Huron Park, Ontario-based stone-cleaning and -restoration company servicing all of southern Ontario. He also serves as the director of training, technical assistance, and operational support for Stone Restoration Services, a division of Stone Shop International. Tom also offers corporate and private consultation, serves as a trainer for the MIA, and is also on the organization’s board of directors. He can be reached at tom@greatnorthernstone.com.