Fear is a topic you probably don’t expect to hear about from your heating and cooling guy. And not to worry, our technicians aren’t walking into your home to give a treatise on Soren Kierkegaard.
I’m talking about it though, because at their core many homeowners reach out to us with an underlying state of fear. It may be unconscious, but it’s driving many of the questions they ask and underlies the process they are going through to make decision in their home.
My sincere hope is that this is not an issue you deal with. If you think it might, read on. My goal is to help uncover some of the potential drivers of the fear, so you can put it in its proper place and put yourself in control. Like any problem to overcome, awareness is the first step.
The underlying cause of the fear most homeowners face is a lack of knowledge about the issue they’re dealing with. We often hear the comment, “your tech could tell me anything and I’d believe it.” Do you know the difference between a capacitor, contactor, condenser, or compressor? We find that few home owners do.
So where does the fear come in? Typically because some guy you just met is telling you to do something that doesn’t make sense for some dollar amount you didn’t budget for. To me, it makes sense that you’re feeling anxious at this point. You’re cold and you want to be warm. At the same time, you don’t want to spend money you don’t necessarily have.
Our analysis of the reasons the fear exists in the above situation points to three missing factors:
1) Lack of relationship
2) Lack of communication
3) Lack of transparency
Objectively thinking, when those three elements are missing from a situation it sets up a feeling of anxiety.
So, as a homeowner who’s been in your shoes, I encourage you to overcome your fear by pushing for peace of mind within those three areas.
Within Relationship: If you ask questions that get you beyond just the formal service provider – homeowner relationship, you will start to hear what that person believes. If they talk about their family, community, interests, the relationship will get beyond just fixing your situation. It’s hard to trust someone you know nothing about.
Within Communication: Don’t just nod your head if you don’t understand. If they can’t slow down and explain the issue in a way that doesn’t make sense, you’re never going to trust them.
Within Transparency: They should be able to explain how the costs come together. The finger in the air method of pricing would make anyone anxious. They should either be able to show you how the prices came to pass, or connect you with a manager who can do so.
At Homesense, we make every attempt to build trust within every touchpoint we have with clients. We do that through caring, communication, and consistent application of process.