Yesterday, I spent nearly three hours driving across Atlanta just to save one of my customers about $120 on a grease trap.
From a purely financial standpoint, it didn’t make much sense. My time was worth far more than the savings, and anyone looking only at the numbers would call it a bad business decision.
So why did I do it?
Because protecting my clients’ money is one of my core values. When I tell someone I’ll treat their project like it’s my own, I mean it. If I can save them money without cutting quality, I’ll do everything reasonable to make it happen.
But something shifted during that long drive. Instead of dwelling on the three hours I was losing, I started asking a better question: How do I make sure I never have to do this again?
Not because I don’t want to help my customers—I do. But because I want to build a better business.
If protecting a client’s money depends on me personally jumping in the truck and driving across Atlanta every time an opportunity arises, then I don’t have a customer service system. I have a customer service habit. Those are two very different things.
A habit relies on me showing up. A system works whether I’m there or not.
The solution might be stronger vendor relationships, preferred supplier agreements, earlier planning on purchases, or handing procurement off to someone on my team. I don’t have the perfect answer yet, but I know the question is the right one.
As entrepreneurs, it’s easy to celebrate the heroic moments: the owner who stays late, makes the extra trip, or sacrifices another evening for a customer. Sometimes those acts are exactly what’s required—and yesterday was one of those days.
But when those moments become routine, they stop being great customer service. They become evidence that the business still has room to grow.
I’ve started treating every inconvenience as valuable feedback. Not “How can I work harder?” but “What system would make this unnecessary?”
I don’t want CLB Builds to be known for an owner who’s willing to sacrifice everything. I want it to be known for systems that consistently protect our customers’ time, money, and experience.
Yesterday, the right decision was making the drive. Today, the right decision is building a business that won’t need me to do it next time.