Empathy is a two-way street

By Herb Lagois

When you’ve been in this business as long as I have, you know friendship is a gift.

Friendships with homeowners are particularly special to me. After all, if it had not been for my passion for design and their dream of new spaces, we might never have crossed paths.

They are friendships developed during the renovation of their homes and in the profound privilege they entrust in us to enhance and illuminate the way they live. They are friendships based on mutual trust, promise, honesty, caring and deep connection.

Sharing stories

I founded this company more than four decades ago, so my experience and stories are long.

Jacob Kirst, Lagois president, also has his own stories about our friends.

The other day he was telling me about a meeting he had with a homeowner we have all come to be very fond of. The homeowner had struggled with an extremely tough cancer diagnosis. We had worked closely together during his large renovation, and the diagnosis deeply affected all of us.

But then, his fortune turned. Miraculously, he went into remission, and he had to share this great event with us. Jacob told me how deeply honoured he was to be part of such an incredible moment.

One of our repeat clients, a lovely woman and her husband, told us her dad, who loved to walk all his life, lived to be 103…and actually walked nearly 18 km to his chemo treatments! We love that story.

Your family and ours

There are many other wonderful stories the whole Lagois team gets to hear and share. As with any good friendship, the affection goes two ways. Our homeowners care about us. They know about our families and our celebrations. They get to know our personalities, our strengths and our hopes.

Sometimes I contrast this atmosphere of kindness and caring with companies that don’t see life this way. Recently I have had a warranty issue with an air conditioning manufacturer. You wouldn’t believe the runaround, the jargon, the empty promises to fix it, and then… nothing. I know if Lagois had hired the company it would be dealt with, done, fixed, and that would be the end of it, because that’s what true professionals – and friends – do.

I talk to people who just assume there will be cost and time overruns, despite what I tell them. That sort of thing happens with companies who don’t live up to what they say. It doesn’t happen with us. Real friendship doesn’t allow that kind of sloppiness or disconnect.

Respect, care, concern

Friends look after each other. Real friendships last. I know this personally, of course, but I was encouraged by a peer group I was part of called Remodellers Advantage. I met with folks all across Canada and the USA. They were part of similar-sized companies. We talked about how to better ourselves, how to provide the best service to our homeowners. It was one of the ways Lagois developed our promise to be on time and on budget.

This respect, care and concern comes back to us from homeowners. They give us advice in the areas where they are the experts. For example, our construction agreement evolved from clients who specialize in contract writing. We have received valuable advice from our homeowners in website design, marketing and management. They love to help us as much as we love to help them.

This is what happens when you’re not so large a company that you lose your humanness. We are people with real lives and hearts and compassion, and we help each other. Together with homeowners we are Perfecting the Art of Living. I cherish this.

We all do.

Herb Lagois is the founder of Lagois Design∙Build∙Renovate and the author of “The Right Fit: How to Choose a Renovator”. Read or download a copy here.