Clients

One good thing about being in business for myself is that I get to meet a variety of people.

I have had the good fortune to operate for the last 20 + years in the more affluent areas of the valley and in doing so have made the acquaintance of some very interesting people that I have learned a tremendous amount from.

I have discovered that when asked people will share. I always take a great interest in what people do and I always ask about them. I could care less about talking about myself due to the fact that I know who I am and what I do. However when asked I always go to great length to make sure people understand what I am doing.

This job of surveying has led me down many a path. I have met rock stars, heavy duty business people, a couple of actors, a lot of well known athletes (they all live in PV), significant government officials, doctors, attorneys, very influential people in the community, the list goes on.

The one thing that all of these people share is that I took in interest in who they are and I actually learned something  from all of them albeit good or bad and some I am still in contact with.

That brings me to the point of this post.

This last week I met an incredible couple. I was retained by them to help straighten out an issue with a municipality.

I gave them the appropriate cost and they reluctantly hired me. I think in hind site they are happy that they did. I really saved them a lot of heart ache and I knew the correct questions to ask the city.

I arrived at their home to do a small amount of field work and after I was finished I knocked on their door. I was immediately invited in which is unusual and we all sat at the kitchen table for a bit while I explained what was happening and the evidence that I had collected.

I will tell you right now that this is the first time doing this job that I felt welcome and comfortable in a clients home. I usually never go in and request that they step out but this time it was different.

Why was it different? I think that we just got along well and also there was a little fate involved in our meeting. We actually had a bizarre inadvertent meeting 3 days prior and when we started talking we discovered this fact that I will not go into here. It was actually quite amazing.

Our conversation while it mostly revolved around the survey took different turns and before I knew it I had probably been there a little to long. A couple of days later another conversation ensued that was even better and had really nothing to do with surveying which I love. Talking about surveying is something I avoid unless it's with a colleague.

There is a massive amount of things we can learn from a client. Everyone has something to offer and if we slow down and listen it may end up being one of the best experiences you could ever have.