We all face struggles and challenges. On a good day, you handle your business and move on. But we all have bad days, too.

Say you’re stressed out about things at home, you haven’t been getting enough sleep, you come into work a few hours late because you had a doctor’s appointment that didn’t go as well as you’d hoped, and the messages and emails are piled up. You’re dealing with plenty on your own, and that’s not the easiest time to put on a happy face and take care of your customers.

But that’s exactly what you need to do. More often than not, your customers are having bad days when they call you, too. When wastewater is backing up in their basement, the stress is real. Sure, the clogged pipe can be cleared or fixed, but what about family photos and other personal items that are soaking in that wastewater? You can’t fix those. And anyone who’s watching the real-time destruction of his or her life’s keepsakes is understandably going to be emotional.

So, regardless of what you have going on, when that call comes, you have to be at your best. And that means more than just agreeing to come out later and take a look at the problem. You’re a first responder, a shoulder to lean on, a counselor and a contractor. No one is more important in those instances than you.

You’re the first person on the scene and the one person who can make your customers feel better in these instances, and that’s something you have to take seriously. Just like a doctor, having a good bedside manner, so to speak, can be almost as important as the treatment provided.

There will always be those who view you just as drain cleaners doing the dirty work they don’t want to deal with, but they’ll feel differently when their own emergency strikes and they need to call you. And if you help them get a handle on the situation and begin the process of getting things back in order, they’ll never look at drain cleaners the same way again. They’ll probably become lifelong customers, too.

I hope you think of yourselves as more than just drain cleaners. Your role is much bigger than that. Embrace it. Establish relationships with your customers. Let them know they can count on you when it matters.

Enjoy this month’s issue.