“You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody.
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”
– Dylan (Copyright ©1979 Special Rider Music)

Recently I was shopping for a faucet valve that came out in my son’s hand while he was taking a shower (yeah – I love it when stuff like that happens – especially when my wife says “no problem, just fix it”).

It was an older Moen part, so I went to Lowe’s. And at Lowe’s we received some excellent service.  They didn’t have the part, a little do-hicky that connected to the razzle-stat in the wall, but they were fantastic in how they tried to help us. So then we called Moen (http://www.moen.com/).  (Side-rant: Note to Moen – for older parts, you should sell them at a reasonable (not list) price)

Here’s the thing: I was commenting to the two guys from Lowe’s that assisted us on how great their service was. Specifically, I noted how different Lowe’s was from Home Depot in terms of customer service and how helpful they are. One of them, Tom, said something to me that was very telling. He said, “Although I work for Lowe’s, I’m also a contractor, and for that, I use Home Depot.” 
Here’s a guy who clearly enjoyed his job and enjoyed helping customers – who did not seem to have “an ax to grind” with his employer – but who was simply telling me something in a matter-of-fact way.

I naturally asked, “Why is that?” and he responded, “Home Depot gives contractors like me greater than a $5000 credit line. I can’t put on a roof with $5000 worth of materials and I can’t get more than that from Lowe’s. I need that credit line for larger jobs.”

Suddenly it became very apparent to me: You are who you serve. Or maybe, more technically, You are who you’ve developed your offerings to serve.

• Lowe’s is about the home owner – the guy like me who doesn’t have great confidence in how to fix a broken faucet or what exactly to buy.
• Home Depot is about contractors – guys like Tom who need the credit line to get his jobs done.

No, these aren’t necessarily original observations and I think this has probably been covered in the business press over the years – but this is how it came home to me from this experience. Home Depot developed  their policies and procedures – their value chain to support contractors – it is their “main thing” – protestations to the contrary, notwithstanding. On the hand, Lowe’s designed theirs to support consumers, by hiring Toms to help people like me find the “razzle-stat”. It doesn’t mean one is better than the other – just that these little things are really big things.

“you’re gonna have to serve somebody”  and You ARE Who You SERVE.

Who do you serve?