A client's offhand comment about my truck changed how I run my business

I was loading a dresser into my box truck in Denver last summer when the client, an older guy, just said, 'You move people's whole lives with this thing.' He wasn't being deep, just making talk. But it hit me later that I'd only ever seen the truck as a tool, not what it actually carries for folks. I started asking clients one simple question at the start of each job: 'What's the one thing in here you're most worried about?' It changed the whole vibe from a transaction to a real service. Has anyone else had a normal chat flip a switch in their work like that?

4 comments

4 Comments

keith9002mo ago

Honestly, that's a great example of how the smallest shift in how you see things changes everything. We get so stuck in our own routine view of the world, like your truck just being a tool. Tbh I see it all the time, people just going through the motions at their job until some tiny, real human moment snaps them out of it. It's not about the big mission statements, it's about actually seeing the people right in front of you.

jennifer8332mo ago

Ever ask what really matters to them?

jason_lewis32mo ago

Try asking during last call.

lilyp371mo ago

Oh man, jason_lewis3 hit on something real there. Last call is that sweet spot where people drop their guard and actually talk to you, not just give you the routine "I'm fine" answer. I've been doing this long enough to know that's when you get the real stuff, especially if you follow up with what @jennifer833 said about asking what matters to them. It catches people off guard in a good way, like you actually care enough to dig a little deeper. I've had guys tell me their whole life story just because I asked that one simple question while they were waiting for their change. You gotta be ready for the moment though, because if you hesitate or make it awkward, the window closes fast.