We share small and large conversations with our family, friends and our customers everyday. A few years back, I had an interesting conversation with a local contractor and ended up with a new story to share.
I needed some work done on a little house project and called a contractor for a quote. He came out and was friendly and informative. Based on the conversations we had and a little additional research, I was willing to work with his firm.
Then 4 days after our first meeting, I received a follow-up call. I told the contractor it would still be another week before I have an answer for him. That’s when he lost me – his voice sounded so dejected that I left the call with a feeling of not wanting to work with him at all. His voice strongly suggested “What’s the use? Why do I bother? I desperately need more customers.”
As a business person – he handled my initial call, the estimate, the follow-up call — everything well except for the last two seconds. All he said was “Okay, thanks” or something similar, but his voice said so much more. He seemed to lose all confidence and, amazingly, I immediately felt a lack of confidence in him.
It’s surprising what can be conveyed between the words.
– Mary
P.S. If mistakes were clementines, they would taste great, come in sections, and be easy to pack for lunch.
Edited:
- 12/14/2016 for clarity and to add an image.
- 5/9/2022 removed the added image.
- 5/10 – 5/11/2022 deleted original post as for some reason removing the image changed how this post was displayed. I am hoping this will now display correctly on a fresh blog post. I also updated the post so that it would make sense in 2022, rather than the original date of 8/20/2014. Fixed a typo.
