Do you enjoy yard work?
I don’t. . . And neither does my husband.
That’s why we have a company take care of our lawn. They’re kind of a luxury. We feel it’s worth it, however, to have a green, weed-free lawn that we don’t have to worry about.
My husband thought our current guy was a bit expensive, so last year we switched to a different, less-expensive, company.
Then we had a problem with one of our sprinklers.
There was a big puddle outside our back door.
Every morning my husband would have to walk around this puddle to get into his truck.
We turned the automatic timer (for that section) down so it wouldn’t get as much water.
It didn’t fix the problem.
We asked the new company to look at the issue. They checked for broken sprinkler heads.
That wasn’t the problem.
They turned the timer down for the entire system. Now parts of our lawn were turning brown from under-watering. And we still had the puddle.
We talked about it with the owner. He said he didn’t know what to do. His company continued mowing our lawn.
And ignored the problem.
After three weeks of walking around the puddle and being ignored, my husband called our former company. The owner came by. He looked at our puddle and said he would call his sprinkler specialist. It might take a week or two, but he would make sure the problem was fixed.
The specialist came by two days later. He spent an hour or so checking things out. He knocked on the door to tell me he’d fixed the problem.
The issue was that our automatic sprinkling system had two stations hooked up to one set of sprinklers!?! This meant that those sprinklers came on twice.
He said that wasn’t very common. Whoever had installed our automatic sprinklers had made a mistake. He turned that station off.
Which fixed the problem.
It was a very simple solution. However, it took a specialist to find it.
Three Reasons to use a Specialist:
- You want someone who isn’t just doing a job.
- You want someone who will dig deep to find solutions.
- You want someone who is devoted to his subject
Why do you do what you do?
Do you have “just a job?” If so, that’s okay. We’ve all been there. Especially when we start out. But (hopefully, eventually), you’ll find something you love to do. That makes you the money you love to have.
When this happens, you’ve got more than a job.
You’ve found a sweet spot of work. Work that is engaging and satisfying and has nothing to do with the money you make.
Like the sprinkling specialist. He gets a kick out of sprinklers! (Who knew!) He likes to tinker with them so they’re as efficient as possible. This makes him a fantastic person to call when there’s a sprinkler problem.
Working in your sweet spot helps you find solutions
When you love what you do, it’s easier to find solutions to problems. Simply because you dig deeper.
The sprinkling specialist found our problem. It would never occur to my husband or me (or the yard-care company) that one set of sprinklers was on two timers.
Sometimes solutions aren’t in the vicinity of the problem. If you just want the problem solved, often you aren’t able to see outside the box – especially the sprinkler box!
Someone who has curiosity, however, has the tenacity to find the solution.
Devotion to a subject gives you curiosity
This means you learn more. And you retain that knowledge.
I’m not particularly curious about sprinklers. Or lawn care. Which is why I have a company take care of my lawn.
And this situation made me really appreciate specialists. Because our lawn guy isn’t a sprinkler specialist. He knows what he’s good at (lawn-care) and where he needs help (sprinkler set-up). And when he needs help, he calls a specialist.
Specialists are curious in their special sphere –that’s why they’re specialists.
(And in case you’re wondering, we’re still with the company that solved our problem. They’re a bit more expensive than others. However, they’re solution finders. And that’s worth extra money every time!)
Do you need a specialist to find solutions for your business?
One who loves writing white papers, case studies, and gets the ins and outs of health marketing?
If so, we should talk!