If you are a biker (the non-motorized kind), you know that every bike shop has a team of bike repair guys (yup, often guys). Over the years, I’ve been impressed by their generosity. I could tell you story after story about how they would bend over backwards to repair my bike and get me back out on the road.
Yesterday, I had yet another experience of similar nature. I was recently the proud recipient of a specialty bike from Europe—a Gazelle. Very fancy commuter bike with all the bells and whistles. My generator headlight was broken, and the bike store by my house was unable to fix the issue on site. Instead, they hopped on the internet to research options on how and/or where to have this special bike fixed in the city of Chicago. They even placed a phone call on my behalf to verify the problem could be fixed at another shop.
Now, that may not sound particularly outstanding to you, but in today’s times of rotten customer service (cable; internet; utilities; etc)—combined with the crappy economy that won’t go away, requiring service providers to be even more cognizant of client retention through stellar client service—I find the kindness of bike repair shop guys to be worth exploration.
So why do they take their customer service to such levels, again and again? Why do they offer their customers unlimited free advice, education, and often free mini-fixups? They don’t make a lot of money in the first place. So, like those of us in creative fields, especially architecture (but also engineering and construction to some extent), they did not go into their ‘craft’ for the monetary rewards.
My hunch is this: Bike repair guys love biking and all that it entails (environmentally conscious/green; health/fitness; good peaceful vibes and culture) so much that they are willing to ensure every individual that has the desire to ride a bike will indeed be able to ride a bike well, and ride it safely.
Don’t we, in the built environment, ultimately seek to successfully provide shelter (and transport, and provide utilities for, and all the rest of the project types out there)? Didn’t we enter this profession so that we could be a part of creating something that will be useful to fellow living beings?
If yes, then what can the AEC community learn from the bike repair shop guys, who often work tirelessly and for minimal/no money to ensure bikers are happily riding?
- -Educate freely.
- -Be generous.
- -Remain as easy-going as possible when interacting with clients.
- -Reward ourselves with a pat-on-the-back for doing what’s good and right, even if it does not always result in monetary benefits in that moment.
- -Trust that our good deeds towards our clients will indeed eventually reflect positively on the firm.
This sounds very familiar doesn’t it? Not unlike the tenants of social media, if you ask me.
Sometimes it helps to look at other professions to get perspective on our own AEC industry. Have a similar story to tell about exceptional client and/or customer service? Email me!