I only do business with people who love their work

I hope it’s clear that I’m doing work I love. Obviously, I would never settle for less. But you know what else I won’t settle for? Doing business with someone who doesn’t like their work. Do you think I want a mechanic working on my prized cars who hates what he’s doing? Do you think I’d go to a dentist who despised her profession? (And yes, there are too many in this category.)

No, I’ll go to extra lengths to make sure I’m doing business with people who have found their passion. We’ve had the same guys doing our yard work for over 15 years. They blow the grass off our gravel driveway and trim around trees so far back on our property few people ever see the extra care. Our chiropractor doesn’t just give a quick adjustment – he wants to know what we’re thinking, reading and eating. The guy who is doing trim work in our kitchen rejects pre-made corner pieces as he can craft more beautiful ones himself. Our massage therapist doesn’t just pop in to check us off her list each week. Rather, she thanks us every time for the privilege of working on us. Yeah, she really showed up last week with this shirt.

Our webmaster inquires about our long term goals and suggests creative things we could do to help more people. Our book publisher invites us to dinner when he’s in town and shares about the latest Habitat for Humanity house he’s funding. When the guys come to check our HVAC system they take their shoes off out of respect for the way Joanne keeps our house. We share life with the people we do business with. We tip generously and thank them for their area of expertise.

So often I hear about poor service and angry encounters with service providers. I think we need to choose more carefully who we do business with. Doing business is not a win-lose proposition. Everybody can win.