Mike works at our local ‘big box’ hardware store, alongside people who cut wood, motion directions and stack paint cans. Each weekend Mike sees a steady stream of ‘have a go’ DIY enthusiasts, the kind of guys who were too busy on their way to becoming accountants and lawyers in their teens, to learn how to cut wood, drill holes or make things. Mike’s colleagues help them to pay for the things they say they want, and to load their cars with the things they’ve paid for.

Mike does things differently.
He never asks the customer what he wants, instead he asks,
“What do you want to do?”
Which is code for….
“What do you want to be?”
Then, and only then, does Mike help the guy to understand what he needs for the job, and why.

“Measure twice, cut once, take your time with it, and come back to me if you get stuck,” he says.

Mike doesn’t sell wood and saws, he makes each man the hero of his own story.

If you sell a man a saw, you’ve got the profit from one sale, when you make him a hero, you have a customer for life.

Image by Rachel Andrew.