“Just Being Good At Aging In Place Strategies May Not Be Sufficient For Our Clients”

We must do an outstanding job for our aging in place clients because we recognize how important it is for them and because it reflects on us

All of us like to be good at something. We strive throughout life to perform at a level that warrants recognition for our achievement. We want to make the team, and having done that – for those of us who do – we want people to recognize our contributions so we strive to be good at our position. We want a high batting or scoring average. We want to be known for our defense, Whatever the sport, we like coming home at the end of the season with a ribbon or two and a trophy that shows the world (or at least who know us or our parents) how good we were that season at that sport.

That’s human nature. We want to be good at something we do, and we want people to appreciate that accomplishment. It doesn’t have to be sports. It can be scholastic or other endeavors. In school, we like getting good marks. We like a high GPA – and so do our parents. We study so that we can get those good marks, and they validate our efforts. Notice how many people revere a straight-A report card or a 4.0 (5.0 in some schools) GPA!

If we are a performer – and actor, a singer, or a musician – we crave the applause that comes in the middle of a performance for something the audience recognizes as especially good, and we live for that solid applause that comes at the conclusion of our performance – a standing ovation being even better.

If we are an artist, a sculptor, or a photographer, we know when we have produced a good effort, and we like it when the public appreciates it as well. Sometimes they even like something that we think is not that good or less than our best effort just because it appeals to them on some level.

All along, we are trying to be good at what we do. We want to be a good friend, a good neighbor, a good parent, a good partner, a good spouse, a good employee, a good committee member, or a good citizen.

We want our neighbors to recognize our efforts for maintaining the quality and appearance of the outside of our home and our yard – possibly our garden in warmer months. If we decorate for various holidays, we want to do a good job, and we appreciate being told this by friends, neighbors, and even strangers as they drive by and stop to notice.

We like doing a good job. We like doing things well. Ultimately our efforts reflect upon us. It’s our personal brand.

That brings us to our professional life and the way we help people remain in their homes long-term. When we originally meet potential clients, or when we are introduced to them by a referring professional that know us and the type of work we do, they are counting on us doing a good job for them but they really are expecting more than this. It depends on a person’s definition of what is considered to be a good job and what their standards of measurement are, but we can’t allow ourselves to settle for just being good.

There are so many people willing to do renovations – kitchens, baths, hallways, entrances, flooring, lighting, bedrooms, and other areas of the home – that it’s not very difficult for the consumer to locate someone to help them. Most people will do a good job, but the client requires a great job. A good job is a “C” effort – a satisfactory result that is not horrible but not great. Great is an “A.” Nevertheless, we must demand more of ourselves than even an “A” performance. Great is good enough. Outstanding or excellent is what we are going for in the results.

A good job might satisfy our clients and give them what they need – with many of them requiring mobility assistance into or inside their homes or a safer way to use their bathrooms. Most of them likely have not had such renovations done in the past so their level of expectations may not be as high as ours. In some cases, an improvement is going to be welcome even if it could have been done better. The price or the materials and products selected are independent of the way we do the job. We must do an excellent renovation or installation because that is just the way we believe in doing business.

Our clients are placing the quality of their lives, including their personal safety going forward (especially with avoiding slips and falls), and we owe it to them to deliver an exceptional job, regardless of how much they are paying us of what the scope of the job happens to be. We should approach it as if we are doing our own home or that of a loved one.

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