By: Brian Schutt
At Our Core, We Believe in Caring Deeply About Each Individual We Serve, That’s HVAC Service with Humanity
I’m kind of a business book junkie. Since college, I’ve poured through books that breakdown successful companies, successful leaders, and successful strategies to create, build and improve businesses. But now, almost seven years into owning my own business, I feel those books—while good—don’t necessarily apply to a business like mine.
Maybe it’s being a small business. Maybe it’s being a local business. Maybe it’s that people in Indiana are different and demand us to be different. Who knows?
But what I do know is that no amount of business tips and tricks can be successful without first placing and keeping humanity at the core.
Humanity Defined
By “humanity,” I simply mean caring deeply for others and their situation. Real, genuine concern. Offering someone the gift of empathy without agendas or requirements.
To me, this is humanity.
And I was reminded of the necessity of this gift when my car was broken into a few weeks ago. Not the end of the world, but certainly not an enjoyable experience.
Knowing I wouldn’t want to be without a back window for long during an Indiana winter, I quickly called three auto glass installers to share my predicament.
On the first phone call to a local auto dealership, a woman picked up the phone, heard my story, and said in robotic fashion: “I need to transfer you to the Service Department.” Next, a man at another local company picked up the phone. It was quickly clear to me that he was at the end of his day and told me he’d have to call me in the morning. Neither experience overflowing with humanity.
My last call went to a national glass installer. The rep who answered (also named Brian, so you know he was going to helpful) heard my story and then shared in my pain. “Oh, that’s terrible! Was anything stolen? That’s not how you want to end your day.” He went on to ask several useful questions in attempting to find the quickest possible solution.
Because of the time of day, none of the providers could offer immediate assistant. However, the last call offered me the best he could…some humanity. You can guess which one I selected.
Humanity Designed
This experience reminded me how our customers feel when they call us in need. Yes, their first concern is having their HVAC issue fixed. But, underlying that, they want somebody who actually cares about their situation.
I see it every day.
May we always, at Homesense Heating & Cooling, focus on being human and relating to other humans with sincerity. May we acknowledge our own imperfections. And may we request and extend grace internally to our team and externally to our clients.
We’d be grateful for your feedback on how we’re doing as a company at creating a business based on humanity as a strategy. Please share your thoughts.
