Offer What you do Best, Outsource the Rest
I had a really interesting interaction today with, of all people, my washing machine repairman. When he first came out, everything was great! We had an appointment, he showed up, he made a repair list, and off he went to order up parts. Easy peasy, right? Almost. Today, we discussed how he and all other business owners should offer what you do best and outsource the rest in order to grow your business. Here’s why we had the conversation we did.
After our initial appointment, he dropped off the face of the planet. I couldn’t get in touch with him to save my life, or that of my washing machine. One dozen phone calls, more texts than I care to admit, and multiple calls to the warranty company in an attempt to get them to arrange for a different repairperson and all I had to show for it was “The parts have been ordered, so we can’t stop the process now.”
The expectation of good communication should be a standard practice in business.
Now, admittedly, I know I tend to have high expectations having worked as a luxury-service provider. That environment has influenced me to live and breathe high-end service to accommodate clients in the industry for years, so I know I can think a bit more critically than always necessary. While that can be a good thing for some industries, this issue with my repairman wasn’t as complex. The most basic of issues was (and usually is) lack of communication. High end services or not, when you don’t have basic communication with your client, there is a problem, and it will impact every client no matter their level of expectation.
Today, I finally had an appointment for the installation of the new parts for my washing machine. Three weeks and loads of frustration in, I am ready to have a stern conversation with my repairman. However, what I learned when he arrived was surprising.
What was the issue?
This man is overworked and overwhelmed. He is a small business owner trying to do it all himself and frankly doesn’t have the bandwidth to be everything to every client. Also, he is an expert repairman. However, he is not an excellent phone-based customer service provider. It got me thinking, that’s really what I help people with! I free my clients up, in terms of time, to focus on their talents, their passion. This repairperson is my client.
He has talents and technical skills, which I don’t and his other clients don’t. When we got to talking, his primary concern was that he lacks time and money to train someone. But we came to the conclusion that he doesn’t have to train someone, he has to trust someone. He came to the realization that what he needs is help with the things he doesn’t excel at in order to give himself the gift of time to focus on his skills. I am now helping him with his books, freeing him to focus more of his time and energy on his primary business.
Offer What you do Best, Outsource the Rest
So, dodge the overwhelm. Save time time as a business owner. Consider what you aren’t good at, and see it for the opportunity it is. Acknowledging your time as valuable and understanding how that impacts your financials, is the first step to knowing your expertise. When it comes to the customers’ experience, the cost of NOT hiring someone to help you with the things that you are not good at can cost you more in business and reputation. Free up the time to do more of the stuff you are good at and watch your business grow! Do what you do best, outsource the rest!
