Never Invade Your Service Customers’ Personal Space(s)!
Respecting your customer’s personal space builds trust and comfort. Learn simple ways to avoid invading boundaries and create a better home service experience.
KickStart: Train your staff to focus on (and respect) the homeowner’s “Personal Space(S)” that include the “Private Zones” in their home.
I don’t care how good your work is—if you make a homeowner uncomfortable, you’ve already lost the job.
Respecting personal space(s) isn’t just “good manners,” it’s part of being a professional residential services provider.
Think about it: Nobody likes a “close talker.” It might have been funny on Seinfeld, but in real life? Not so much. ☠️ Now allow me to be Politically Incorrect for a moment by mentioning gender...😮
Customers—ESPECIALLY women with male techs—have a finely tuned radar when it comes to their personal space. If you (or one of your techs) are standing too close, hovering, or leaning in, you’re sending all the wrong signals.
Here’s the rule I used with my residential crews:
👉 If you’re close enough to touch a customer, you’re TOO CLOSE! Back up! ☠️
And don’t forget—personal space isn’t just horizontal and face-to-face, it’s also “vertical” up-and-down too. For example...
Ever notice how uncomfortable it feels when someone is “looming” over you? 😮 So, if your customer is sitting (or much shorter than you) try not to tower over them.
How to avoid this deadly sin of “looming”? Simply drop down on one knee to check something on the floor, and while you’re down there, continue talking while looking up at them. (Or heck, I’d “accidentally” drop my pen on the floor and then stay down there!) 😁
💡 ProTIP: If you simply can’t get lower than your client at the very least step back to increase the horizontal distance between the two of you. Now they won’t be craning their neck up at an acute angle and you won’t be so intimidating!
KickStart TAKEAWAY: Focusing on a customer’s physical “personal space” will pay off big time! Now you (or your employees) will appear to be approachable and respectful, which will greatly increase client’s comfort level. The result? More ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews for you!
You’ll remember in my opening KickStart I used the plural phrase of “Personal Space(s)”. So now let’s talk about more “Personal Spaces”, the “Private Zones” in a customer’s home.
Think about it. You probably don’t invite even close friends back into your bedroom, closets, or master bathroom. For sure your clients don’t feel comfortable with strangers in these areas.
This is why your techs poking into these private spaces can make homeowners feel exposed, invaded or even threatened! That’s why I trained my team to never go into these spaces without being invited.
However, IF (and only if) the job required it then my staff was instructed to ask the homeowner:
“May I open this closet to check the inside wall?”
“Do you mind if I check the master bedroom?”
“Would it be OK if we could look at the bathroom now?”
Simple questions like these show respect and put your customer at ease.
KickStart Bottom Line? Customers invite us into their homes, which is already a big deal to them. The least we can do is respect their personal AND their private space(s).
Now I’ll turn it back to you—what’s your best “personal space story” from on the job? Ever had a customer back away because you got too close without realizing it?🙄 Let’s trade stories—we can all learn from each other.
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