I spent last weekend with my best friend and her family. She has 3 AMAZING boys, 5, 2.5 & 1 month. And they love their Auntie, but sometimes I have to say no, or stop, or wait.

WHY? WHY? but WHY?

I love these boys, even when they won’t stop asking questions. The weekend made me think, “because I said so” is a crap answer and sure doesn’t work. Not with a 5 year old, and not with your 40 year old client. All the kids wanted was a real answer to why they couldn’t drink all the juice in the house or why they had to share the iPad or why they couldn’t put their hand through the cage at the zoo (because the animal will eat your arm off – enjoy the nightmares!).

I have clients often say “I trust you” which is GREAT and what you want to build to in a business relationship sometimes, but make sure you can explain WHY you recommend a service or product. I know I get into my routine and say “hey let’s do this” or “let’s hire this person” and sometimes my clients are ready and on board, and sometimes, I need to step back and explain the big picture to them.

Make sure in your business you’re prepared to answer the question WHY with everything you do. It doesn’t hurt, it only helps build trust. And maybe it’s the question you need to have asked this week.

Earlier this week Hank & I were on our walk and I was listening to the This American Life podcast called “Cops See it Differently.” It was interesting to listen to BOTH sides of the story on this incredibly complicated and controversial matter. And I started thinking of it from a business perspective too. When police officers showed up in a neighborhood and asked questions and asked “hey can you call in when you hear gunshots? We’re here to help you and stop that from happening,” the neighbors would agree to do it, and started to see them as HELPFUL.

We aren’t hearing much in the way of helpful officers these days, which is the point of the podcast episode, talking about ways they’re trying to change in communities.

Two weeks ago while I was getting the house coordinated I had to call Comcast (queue terrible music now), and was SHOCKED when I had a great experience with them. I had a question about a promotion and our upcoming transfer. He answered my questions, I wasn’t on wait for long and I left pleasantly surprised that Comcast left me feeling good about my experience.

As a business owner it’s easy to get caught up and drop the ball on a piece of the project or with a certain client. I know I’ve done it. But by changing that and providing GREAT customer service you can change the mind of someone really quickly. All you have to do is start. Don’t tell me you’re going to start (like my pet peeve of “enjoy our monthly newsletter,” once and then never to be heard from again…) JUST DO IT. Show me don’t tell me. Provide the kind of service you expect from others. We don’t continue to hire people who provide bad service, unless you’re locked into a contract (ahem, cell phone companies, alarm companies, DocuSign, etc.).

You can turn around that cranky client by simply showing up and doing what you’re supposed to do. Try it.