This month, I spent time with some incredible home service teams, speaking to franchisees and leaders at Empower Brands and Merry Maids.
As I was prepping for these keynotes, one of the messages I wanted to leave them with was this: the difference between “good” and “great” often comes down to the details most people overlook.
The Hailstorm That Sparked a Lesson
On my husband’s birthday last May, my town of Franklin, Tennessee, got hit with a pretty nasty hailstorm. If you live in the area, you probably remember it—suddenly, half the city was dealing with roof inspections, insurance claims, and the soundtrack of nail guns and shingles being thrown off roofs for months on end.
Like many of our neighbors, we suddenly found ourselves in need of a new roof.
We hired a locally-owned roofing company based on a referral from a friend. They did exactly what we hired them to do. The roof looks great. The crew was professional. My husband even wrote a five-star review.
And yet…
For days afterward, we kept finding stray nails in our backyard. Like, dozens of stray nails.
If you have kids (or dogs, or bare feet that like to wander outside), you can probably feel your stomach drop just reading that. The last thing I want is a trip to the ER because one of my boys (or pups!) steps on a roofing nail that got left behind.
So I mentioned it to one of my neighbors, and they looked surprised.
“Didn’t your roofing company use a metal detector to sweep the yard when they were done?”
A… metal detector?
Apparently, the company they hired not only replaced their roof, but also left behind a metal detector for the homeowner to use in their yard—just in case any nails or screws were missed.
It was a simple gesture. But it showed that the company was thinking beyond the roof itself and considering how their work impacted the family’s everyday life.
I immediately ordered one off Amazon, and TBH, it was pretty fun to use!
But here’s the interesting part:
When people ask me what I thought about the roofing company we used, I tell them they were fine. They did what they promised. The job got done.
But when people ask me who I’d recommend?
I point them to my neighbor’s roofer.
Same outcome (a new roof). Very different experience.
They understood that the “job” didn’t end when the last shingle was nailed in place. The job extended into the customer’s yard, their kids running barefoot outside, their dog chasing a ball, their everyday routines.
Why Thoughtfulness Gets Recommended
The metal detector wasn’t in the contract. It wasn’t required. But it was thoughtful, and therefore memorable.
This is exactly the kind of moment that looks small on the surface, but says everything about how a brand shows up in people’s lives. It’s what happens when you think about your customer outside the narrow moment you serve them in.
Whether you’re in home services, healthcare, finance, hospitality, or tech—your work touches more of your customer’s life than you probably realize.
Thinking Beyond the Moment You Serve
One of my favorite exercises for teams is to map what the customer experiences before you arrive (whether literally or figuratively!) and after you leave. That’s often where the hidden opportunities live.
When you take a beat to zoom out and ask, “How does what I’m doing impact the rest of their day, their family, their stress level, their sense of safety?” you unlock a totally different level of loyalty.
Real-World Customer Experience Examples
A few quick examples of what I mean:
- A headshot photographer I worked with years ago dropped off eye patches and other self care goodies the night before my shoot—thinking about how I’d feel before I ever stepped in front of the camera.
- An event planner gave me a heads-up that the restaurants near my hotel would be closed when I arrived, and suggested I grab dinner at the airport. This simple gesture removed unnecessary frustration before it ever became a problem and instantly made me feel cared for.
- My vet gives out tennis balls after appointments to help settle my dog’s anxiety and reframe the experience in his mind, so the visit doesn’t end on a stressful note.
The goal isn’t to do more for the sake of doing more.
It’s to remove stress, uncertainty, or effort from moments your customer didn’t even realize you could influence.Plenty of brands can nail the job. The ones people rave about nail everything else. 🔨
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