My New Sprinkler Guy Can Teach Real Estate Agents an Important Lesson

I got home from a recent real estate conference and discovered that about 25% of our backyard grass had turned brown.

I'm not much of a handyman or yard care expert, but I fired up the sprinklers, and sure enough, that entire section had zero water pressure. Ugh. The water was coming out of each sprinkler head with about the same pressure as our kitchen faucet, and a big puddle started to form near one of the heads. Guessed it was a broken pipe.

I remembered a recent discussion about sprinkler repair in our local Reddit sub and called the company that was most recommended. The owner and an assistant came out next day and fixed everything. Whew!

As the owner was wrapping up, he comes over to me to collect payment, which I eagerly paid because it was about half what I expected it to cost.

As we're squaring up, he launches into a two-minute explainer about his repeat customer program -- the rewards of signing up for annual sprinkler blowouts, annual sprinkler checkups at the start of the year, etc.

It was amazing. Last thing I expected from a sprinkler repair visit.

I keep thinking...this guy's playing chess. He fixed my sprinklers once and immediately had a plan to keep me as a customer for years. Why go back to square one and find another stranger when he could turn me into a loyal client?

There's a pretty obvious real estate lesson in there.