Wearing Your Customer's Shoes

As I get older and wiser I find the old cliches about business do have a basis in fact and success.  When dealing with a customer, try to put yourself in their shoes.

A great example of this happened to me this morning with a customer from Canada.  As much as I enjoy working with Canadian buyers, they are extremely risk averse.  This buyer in particular was sensitive to the potential for mold in a condo unit that was not a primary residence for the current owners.  His thoughts were that moisture build up in an unoccupied residence could cause hidden mold issues.

Of course, it didn't help that the sellers left one of those timed Lysol fragrance spritzers on in the unit.

To the buyer, it seemed like the fragrance was covering up a moldy or musty smell.  Putting myself in the buyer's shoes, and since I am from up north myself, it must seem "musty" to a visitor because of our high humidity, even compared to Canada's hottest, most humid days.

Since the home inspection did not reveal mold or a potential problem requiring a mold inspection, we turned the fragrance sprayer off and returned the next day.  No more smell.  Problem solved.

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