A week ago I had an early-morning sales call and was meeting the homeowner at 7:15. I had been to the property before, and the homeowner asked me to call him when I was outside so he could come out and meet me. I knocked on the door and gave him a call to let him know I was outside, but he said he couldn’t see me.
I was at the wrong house.
An elderly woman lived alone at this house. I had woken her up and she was very alarmed to have a man at her front door this early in the morning. It wasn’t a great first impression for her, and I was late getting to the right house for my meeting.
Our sales process is set up to minimize the opportunities for mistakes like these: we have the address both in Aspire and on our calendar along with the name(s) of who we’ll be meeting and additional notes from screening calls. But your process only works if you use it, and I didn’t bother to double check the address.
Mistakes happen in life and in business, we’re all only human. But when we make them, how we recover speaks volumes and can make a big impact. When I got back to the office, here’s how I handled my mistake:
I hand-wrote a sincere apology and mailed it to the neighbor, letting her know how terrible I felt for waking her up.
I shared this story with my team at Grunder Landscaping Co., so that they could have a good laugh at my expense and remember to always double check the details. Stories are a memorable way to make a point, and I couldn’t waste this opportunity.
Now that it’s a little brighter in the morning hopefully it will be easier to tell the houses apart. If me or my team can help you with anything, drop us a line at grow@growgroupinc.com. Otherwise, we’ll talk next week!
Marty Grunder
President & CEO
The Grow Group & Grunder Landscaping Co.
In business, your strategy is how you plan to win your war–with your competitors, the market, and yourself. Don’t start the new year without it. Join Marty Grunder, president & CEO of The Grow Group and Grunder Landscaping Co. and Vince Tochia, vice president of The Grow Group online on November 19 for three live, one-hour sessions tailored to helping you build, execute, and measure a strategy for 2021.