Milo
Paul Lesieur provides a different answer in this blog posting on the Remodelcrazy.com site. It touches close to home as Kashi, our year-old Golden Doodle, sits next to me keeping the sofa warm as she waits for her morning walk.
So what do dog stories have to do with remodeling, or for that matter, construction marketing, you may wonder?
The issue comes down to humanizing (canineizing?) your business, creating connection and respect by sharing stories that put ourselves in a less-than-perfect place. Clients don’t expect us to be perfect; they want to see we have human frailties, they enjoy revelling in our stories of weaknesses, but equally they want to see we get the job done. Paul’s story, after all, finishes with the job completed and payment received (and a contented dog).
Clearly, you need to use some common sense in sharing your stories. If you know your client is allergic to dogs, probably you wouldn’t want to bring the animal on a job site (or for that matter, bring a pet anywhere near a site where safety regulators would frown on such initiatives). But the story here is about marketing, not perfection. It is always good to show we don’t own the world. Sometimes it makes sense to brag; sometimes it makes sense to be humble, but always it makes sense to be ourselves. You’ll understand when you put the marketing cliches away and take the dog for a walk.
