The Trend of the Past and the Future

Last week I searched for a cover for a vent on the outside of my house. I had looked online and had seen many different options, none of which would work for this particular vent. My next stop was a chain home improvement store. The salesperson there was helpful and walked me over to the one item that the store stocked which might work. I had seen that item online and already knew that it was not my solution. I voiced my thoughts and asked for alternatives. She replied that was all they had.

Nearby was an independently-operated hardware store. Suspecting that the store stocked the same item as I had found online and at the chain store, I thought, “I am assuming what they stock. I want to know for sure.”

As I walked into the store, I was greeted by the owners’ sweet German shepherd. The husband of the husband and wife team who owned the store immediately asked me if he could be of assistance. I reiterated that I wanted to cover the vent.

He showed me the same solution as I had seen online and at the chain store.

“That won’t work,” I replied. “I want a cover with smaller holes and more flexibility in attachment. Any other ideas?”

He sat down on a stool, cupped his head in his hand, and looked down at the floor. “Let me think a minute.”

After a few seconds he had a solution. “I’ll cut you some flexible screening. You can lay the screening over the vent and cut it to size. Then double the screening over along the edges and attach it around the vent with these screws.”

I walked out of the store with the solution to my problem in hand.

The next time that I have a problem or want an item that the hardware store may stock, I will go there first. While online offers quick access and big chains proclaim cheap prices, neither one of these offers someone to help you solve a problem. Neither one offers someone to create a solution. The chain store’s salesperson did her best to be helpful, but she had not been taught to think of solutions. She had been taught to sell products.

On the other hand, the independent hardware store owner thrives on solutions. His solution resulted in a sale and a new customer.

As business people and as consumers, we can be lured into thinking that cheapness and bigness are everything. In truth, what really matters are solutions to problems. Those solutions come from one person to another. When a person is unavailable as happens online or the person to whom I am speaking has not been taught to think in solutions, as a customer, I become frustrated. Only knowledgeable solutions will ease my frustrations.

For years small business people have built their businesses by offering solutions to customers’ problems. They have taken the time to listen to their customers. They have stopped to mull over problems. They have created solutions and offered them for the customers’ benefit. This is the trend of the past and the future. To be successful, this requires thought from those working at the small business.

How are you solving your customers’ problems?