One of the reasons that online shopping has grown in popularity is the individualized service we experience. We get to shop on our own terms. Whatever time of the day of night we want to look for something, the internet is open. No weather or parking to contend with. No crowds. No getting dressed to leave the house.
If the first store we visit doesn’t have what we want, we get to try another, and then another. Maybe we find what we want, maybe not. We might find the item we want, and then we look for the best price and delivery options.
We feel completely in control – subject to actually finding what we want and they item being available in the size and color we need or desire.
It’s this feeling of being in charge of the situation that is empowering to us. It’s the same thing that appeals to our clients when we are meeting with them to create a solution for their aging in place needs.
Even if we have created something quite similar to this in the past, each experience is completely new and unique. The client, the home, their needs, the physical working environment. their color choices, ideas of what they want (and don’t want), time frame to complete the work, and other factors are unique to each situation. How we relate to each client is different also.
Just as any builder can make a house with four walls and roof for someone, it’s how we approach the job and our relationship with our client that differentiates the job and enhances their overall experience. How we approach the job, meet their needs, stay within their budget, maintain their personal dignity during an invasive and sometimes messy process, and deliver a job just for them is what makes us different from any other contractor.
When we go shopping for clothes or shoes, sometimes we’ll remark that it’s too bad we can’t get something made exactly for us – in the right size and color without it costing a fortune. Not even online shopping can do this for us if the items just aren’t there or no one is willing to create it for us.
This is what we do for our clients. We create the right size, shape, and features for them and their budget. Regardless of how much or little they need (within the overall parameters of our business model and our willingness to do just a little or our ability to do a major renovation), they will be getting a customized project that is precisely what they need and what they have agreed to in advance.
When we are finished, our clients will be getting exactly what they ordered – customized just for them. It’s not like building a home that we like and putting in the features, colors, finishes, appliances, fixtures, trim, and other goodies that we like – or think the general buying public will like – and then trying to find a buyer for it. We are taking the clients existing home and customizing it according to their needs, likes, desires, and budget. It doesn’t matter if we would choose the same colors or finishes. The job is not for us. We are not the ones who are going to be living there – they are.
If our client is getting something just to make their home safer and more functional, if it is going to be more accessible through the widening of doorways or hallways, if there is going to be better lighting of flooring, if we are installing new technology to make their lives more convenient, or if we are appealing to a special need they or a family member have to make their home more serviceable for them, they will be getting exactly what they ordered. Maybe they could have used more, but they are getting what they agreed to have us provide, in a manner customized and styled just for them – a one-of-a-kind, customized approach.