Fitness, Business, Fitness Business, & Achieving Life Goals

Last week I went see a orthopedic doctor, “the best shoulder guy in the state” according to most people. I had seen him three years back which resulted in a fairly advanced arthritis diagnosis. This time around, I went to see him about what I thought was going to be a torn rotator cuff in the same shoulder. When we finally sat down with x-rays and MRI at hand, he proceeded to lay out the situation. It appears I have a very large bone cyst in the head of the humerus (larger than he had ever seen) and a piece of the bone had broken and was pulled away by the rotator cuff. He said that wasn’t sure what could be done. He suspected that I would have to have a bone graft to create enough of a anchor to then replace the shoulder joint and went on to say that he wasn’t comfortable doing the repair. He then referred me to and set up the appointment with one of the best shoulder guys in Boston.

Let’s think about this. This Dr. just told me that my issues were out of his scope of abilities. He referred out. Sound familiar? I’ve heard many a Personal Trainer express their concern about turning people away by referrals to other professionals (Drs, PTs, RDs, or even other Trainers) and how that may make them seem less than capable.

Here’s the truth of it. The doctor talked to me, not at me, explained the situation fully, answered any questions I had, and in his caring, honest, sincere way, told me why he felt he needed to pass me on to someone else. How many surgeons (or Trainers) would think that this (something out of their scope of practice or ability) was an opportunity to try something new and give it a shot anyway? Why pass up the money? I trust, respect, and pledge my loyalty to this Dr. for his candor in this (his name is Donald P. Endrizzi, MD by the way) and will refer anyone I know that has a shoulder issue to him.

Being honest and sincere with people about what you can or can’t do and referring them to someone who’s specialty it is when you’re not as qualified, will only help to create greater trust in you. They will be more likely to come back to you when the issue is resolved, but even if they don’t, that impression that you’ve made on them by being selfless, will stick with them. They will talk about you and refer you. So don’t hesitate to refer out.

Note: We should always be building our network of professionals that we trust so we know who to refer to when something comes up that is out of our scope of practice or ability.

I had an experience this week that was a perfect example of getting more than you expected and the loyalty that creates. So here’s my story:

I was given a small snow blower by a couple of clients last year. It was great. After all, this is Maine and you can practically use that through the spring. We stored it in the basement until the first snowstorm this winter. Couldn’t start it, couldn’t start it, couldn’t start it, yanking my shoulder out of it’s already arthritic joint. Set it aside and hit the shovel for the next 2 snowstorms.

So the prediction is 12-15 inches for Wed. It’s Tuesday. I finally loaded the blower up and took it to this little small engine shop. I had no hope of getting it back in time before the storm. I was just using it as a reason to get the blower into the shop.

The shop looked pretty much as you would expect, bare basics with small engine products they carried, snow blowers, lawn mowers, chain saws, etc. The man at the counter was very nice, took my information, my snow blower, asked what the problem was and said they would get to it as soon as possible but couldn’t promise it would be ready before the storm. (You could hear engines running in the back work area, so you knew they were busy.) I told him that I didn’t really expect it that quickly and I left.

I get a call about 5:30pm Tues., same day and they close at 5pm, to say that it’s all set and ready to go. I went in the next morning as soon as they opened, still before the storm hit, to pick it up. The same man, I assume the shop’s owner was at the counter, was busy with several other customers. When came my turn he remembered me, explained in detail what was wrong, what they had done, and what the work cost (far less than I expected). As he was charging my card, he asked if I needed any of the oil you mix with the fuel. I said yes to be on the safe side and could he throw that on the card as well. “I’m not going to charge you for that. It’s just a bottle of oil.” Yes, he’s right. It was just a bottle of oil and pennies to him, BUT… the gesture, on top of everything else, made this a very good experience. I felt like I trusted and liked this man and shop.

While I was waiting to have the snow blower rolled out, I was looking around at the products and thought to myself, “The next small engine piece of equipment I buy will be from here.” I even found myself thinking that I could use a chainsaw, which, if you know me, is pretty funny. 

The moral to my story is, good service and creating customer loyalty isn’t some elaborate thing. It’s about the simple stuff: trust, a sense that you matter, exceeding expectations. How can you do that in your business? (and yes, I am plugging the shop… Ray’s Small Engine Inc. 584 Alfred Rd, Biddeford, ME 207-282-6565)