Business The Golden Rule Way

Adelicia was my first client this morning, and after I completed a personal Publix visit I unloaded and put the groceries away at home.

Tomlinson House Cleaning, LLC has a PO Box in Belle Meade, and I went by there to collect some client payment, and when I had deposited the funds I broke for lunch at Starbucks. Their breakfast sandwiches are delicious, and we southerners love breakfast for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What can I say? Being in the south is my favorite place to be.

I think what I love most about my work is that it creates a steady routine, yet it is a bona fide business that I must care for the way I would care for a large company.

The places of business I frequent do this. It’s really the Golden Rule in action, and the effort it takes to do it takes as much effort as ignoring the Golden Rule.

I offer a smile, say hello, and thank my customer in person or on a business card if they are not around. I also stay in communication with them about my performance, and if they aren’t satisfied with my customer service I make it right.

If you’ve ever seen the movie Crash you know that we are all connected in one way or the other, so your actions will affect the way a person acts with the next person they come in contact with.

It’s never just about me. It’s about all of us, and I think if we can keep that in mind the Golden Rule becomes easier to practice at home and at work.

Thanks for reading.

Blood, Water, Mission

A non-profit ministry started by Jars of Clay called Blood, Water, Mission had a wonderful commercial this morning on local Christian station WayFM.

The setting was a little girl who was burning the candle at both ends to operate her lemonade stand. It was very amusing, and for me very enlightening from a business standpoint. Obviously a lemonade stand doesn’t earn much money, but their point was that you didn’t have to be a big contributing partner to make an impact with Blood, Water, Mission.

This organization just recently celebrated building their 1,000 well for Africa, and my respect for Jars of Clay has always been high. They care about people, and they use their success in the music industry to prove it.

That very commercial gave me hope as a sole proprietor that what I am doing is important, and every dollar can serve to relieve people of their unnecessary suffering across the pond.

Every dollar can relieve people of their unnecessary suffering right here in Nashville.

God is blessing our city and the United States with blessings so that we may bless others. Never think your job is beneath you because for every moment you and I have the health we have to perform our responsibilities we are being blessed to bless others.

It’s a simple fact that can change the world.

Thank you for reading.

Gratitude In Business

This morning as I arrive to service my first client I notice The Wall Street Journal on their table. As you know I love The Wall Street Journal, and I love all my clients without whom there’d be no Tomlinson Cleaning. Thank you customers. These particular clients are former contemporaries of mine at our alma mater, and they have always been an inspiration to me. They are the cream of the crop, and I love to be in their home because I feel like their excellence rubs off on me. I respect their anonymity because as a customer to companies myself I don’t like it when my name is broadcast in any form.

Well, as I go about my responsibilities it occurs to me to make a mental note of things that I can add in the customer service category that ensures brand loyalty. Yes, even one man shows can generate brand loyalty, and I have been in business long enough to know I never take a customer for granted. It doesn’t even matter if I’m cleaning my mom’s house. My mom is a client, but I respect her to the point that I will not give her the same excellent customer service I give everyone else much less cut corners. Not only is it unethical but it’s a “slap in the face” to our capitalistic democracy. We’ve worked too hard as a nation to settle for mediocrity even if it’s just scrubbing toilets.

So as I’m preparing my customer service file on said client above I add those things I want to do that will make their experience with Tomlinson House Cleaning, LLC even more memorable. It feels good. It is good. Imagine that – good things happen. What a concept.

When I broke for lunch I sat out on their deck in the beautiful weather with my pizza from last night and a cup of coffee. In the process I was able to dream and visualize our deck/porch with rocking chairs on it. My wife and I have talked about that before, and I almost missed that dreaming opportunity because I was thinking about skipping lunch to save some time before I serviced my second client.

Belle Meade is a beautiful community in Nashville, and as I was traveling through it on the way to my second client’s home I just breathed in the beauty of Percy Warner, Cheekwood and Highway 100.

This wonderful family I serviced next is no less an inspiration than the first, and it’s absolutely wonderful to help people who have a mutual respect for me. Not only do they empower me to send my daughter to a wonderful school, but they give me meaning and purpose such that I’ve never had before. Thank you again customers.

As I leave every client’s home I leave one of my business cards with a thank you written on it and the owner’s or renter’s names to follow. Gratitude in business is vital because it admonishes the customer, and it makes the professional feel good about him or herself.

Never underestimate gratitude, and the next time you receive great customer service thank your provider, and if you are a provider thank your customer. It builds bridges, and it makes for a better world.

Thank you for reading my post. Have a great evening.

 

Nashville Charm Ya’ll

Nashville is a great place to start a business. My delightful Belle Meade client I just serviced put a big smile on my face as she sincerely complimented my performance.

I asked her to put in a good word with a. former Belle Meade client I want back, and not only did she grant my wish she left a delightful message with her about me.

Nashville, when you are kind and exceed your customers expectations, will bend over backwards to pat you on the back.

As our southern charm warms the world’s heart through music we are working hard to make this a place you want to call home.

That’s why I’ve made it my home for 21 years.

Come on out to Nashville ya’ll, and see for yourself. You won’t regret it!

Enjoying the Result

A positive thing about what I do professionally is that I am able to have personal conversations with my clients. I don’t have to look over my shoulder to see a boss waiting to tell me to get back to work.

I had a boss who micromanaged me to no end. All of us have had that boss. I’ve probably been that boss, hence a powerful reason I work alone.

It’s heaven.

I joke about saving money when we switched to Geico, and I always add that I could have saved even more had I skipped college and grad school and gone into the domestic arts. There’s a lot of truth to that because as I sit here in my alma mater’s Starbucks I saw two major professors. I’m overcome with shame, but then I think I have nothing to be shameful of because cleanliness is next to godliness. That covers my double major.

And isn’t life about perspective? Perception is reality, and not only am I a productive citizen of Nashville, but I am driving health care costs down all over the city as I rid homes of harmful bacteria.

You’re welcome.

My client/friend and I, that I mentioned above, had a wonderful conversation as we always do, and I think when you let business and pleasure intersect paradoxically you reap a harvest of benefits that empower you in business and pleasure.

Our discourse included the problem we all have in rushing through life, and in the process we miss the benefit of seeing the beauty our hard work creates. That doesn’t just happen in business. It happens in pleasure when we are thinking about what we are going to say, rather than focusing on what the person in front of us is saying. I suppose if you’re a Wall Street trader on the Exchange floor then that’s a good quality to have, but if you are a psychologist called to empower others to sort through their baggage not so much. It’s important I think to savor the results of our work the way we savor a glass of wine. You don’t have to be the President or a snobby wine collector to do this. You can do it right where you are.

I’m a maid man. I’m doing it. You may be a Physical Therapist. You can do the same thing. No task in business or pleasure is exempt from the habit of savoring the beauty found within.

Slow down and give it a try.

Flexibility and Time

Flexibility is a key ingredient in a sole proprietor business. It’s the top selling point for me because of the ability it gives me to cram other activities into my day.

This morning I headed to a client’s home where I was able to begin cleaning almost an hour before I normally start. I had to do this because I needed to get to Publix so we can eat this week, and before I picked up my daughter . My timing was good enough that I was able to eat lunch at the office and get the grocery list I left behind.

When I left the grocery store I swung by Starbucks before crossing the dam at Percy Priest and heading home. After I dropped the groceries off I headed over to my daughter’s school to pick her up and we came back home.

That’s a typical day in the life of Tomlinson House Cleaning. It’s a beautiful protocol that gives me a sense of ownership and pride in my work, and I have the added bonus of spending priceless hours with my daughter.

No one looks back on their life and wishes they had spent more time at the office.

God is good all the time and everywhere.

Excellence In Work

The Wall Street Journal and other business publications have writers that are disciplined authors that inspire me.

They inspire me because there really is more to business than the business aspect of it. The spreadsheets, tax attorneys, CPA’s, Wall Street trading, investments, blue chip stocks, mutual funds, and the bottom line profit are fractions of what business does for the whole world.

Our capitalistic economy makes it possible for business men like me to create something beautiful with my own hands.

Yesterday as I began work in the Vanderbilt area I was delighted to pay close attention to detail as I sprayed Formula 409 on a marble shower. I scrub it with a non-abrasive pad, and I wiped it down with a soft cotton rag. The work is not glamorous, but an honest day’s work gives every human being dignity that empowers them to hold their head high.

My work continued as I made my way across the  master bathroom marble floor to clean the Jack and Jill sink and mirrors. I smile as I remember each step I took in spraying the mirror with Windex and the vanities with 409, and like my plumbing friend Brooks taught me when a room is done I walk back in (with no shoes mind you), and admire the work completed. Thank you Brooks.

It’s very satisfying work. You see the results right away. It’s akin to painting a room. I’m not a good painter, nor do I desire to be one, but cleaning is my forte. I’ve been doing it professionally for 5-years, so I think I can call it that.

The point of this post is really to admire excellence whether that’s  from a Contributor distributor to a neurosurgeon and their work. One may walk to work, and the other may drive to work in a 7 Series BMW with all the options, but they both have a choice to make. Will I bring excellence to my work today, and if I do I will be happier with myself and life in general.

Thanks for reading.