When the Client Needs a Common Enemy

In our experience, if a client doesn’t know what we are doing, they assume we are doing it wrong!

We know it sounds absurd, but time and again when clients already think they are under attack (fight or flight), they feel there is an enemy before them, and since we are the only ones present, we are the ones they think they have to defend against.

“There is nothing wrong with my chest of drawers,” a homeowner says. “You don’t need to move them,” when she sees our workers are busily emptying the dresser and putting the contents in boxes.

A well-trained contents pro would have long before said, “Ma’am, your dresser looks to be in good shape, but the heat from the fire makes solid wood open its ‘pores,’ so smoke and soot can work its way in.

“What we think we should do is to put it in one of our deodorizing chambers to remove all the smoke odors and keep them from coming back in a month or so. And while we are at it, we’ll get all the clothes in the drawers cleaned as well. How does that sound?”

We just asked permission, and usually, the homeowner will respond with something like, “You are the professional – so how long will this take?”

Before, she was fighting for her property. Now she has a trusted ally against a common enemy.