Wade Dickinson, owner of Heirloom Engravers, has honed his craft over four decades, engraved thousands of projects, and worked closely with high-end jewelers, such as Tiffany & Co. But the moments that mean the most to him are personal interactions with clients. “I want to live in a world where people take care of people, so that starts with me and it ends with me,” he said.
Wade believes that kindness is just as important as the quality of his work, and at his retail shop in San Francisco, he’s carved out a space where he and his customers can be themselves. “[If] they’re having a bad day, but you share a small thing about yourself or about themselves, you’re making their day better. You’re making your day better. The bottom line is it’s just who I’d rather be,” he said.
Below, Wade shares three ways to lead with empathy and kindness in your small business.
1. Hire people who represent your values
Engraving is a skilled profession that takes education and hours of repetition and experience across different machines and techniques. However, there’s one skill that Wade prizes above all: treating customers with kindness. This value is so important to the business that Wade chose to hire for customer service skills, rather than experience in the trade.
“For years we couldn’t really hire other engravers,” he said. “We had to hire people and grow them from the seed into good engravers because when we tried to hire someone who was a talented engraver, along with it came bad habits and attitudes that were unacceptable to us.”
By training his own experts, Wade ensures the team represents his business’ values and promise to customers: “We will deliver on time, and it is going to look good, and there are no ifs, ands, or buts. If it isn’t right, we will fix it. We will take care of it. We’re not gonna make excuses. We’re gonna do it with a smile, and we’re not gonna give you any attitude.”
2. Consider what your customers are going through
As an engraver, Wade receives many orders that commemorate a loved one. Some customers visit the shop for happy reasons, like weddings and other special occasions, but others are grieving and could use a genuine human connection in their difficult time. While providing quality service, Wade makes it his mission to make their lives or days better.
“That’s part of our job,” he said. “When someone comes in with an urn that they need to have engraved, they need us to reach out to them and take care of them for that little bit of time, and they need to walk away feeling like: ‘Okay… I can get through this.’ If we can give that little bit of light to somebody that’s in that position, that’s what we ought to be doing.”
Yelp reviewer Sarah R. experienced Wade’s kindness firsthand when she needed some flasks engraved for her wedding. “It’s nice to talk to someone who is very comfortable in what they’re doing and how they do it, and even who they are,” she said. “It’s just nice to speak with a human about these things, especially when it is, or it can be, very personal.”
3. Be as engaged and accessible as possible
After 43 years in business, Wade was used to conducting business offline, but he found that being active and engaged on Yelp could help him extend his kindness further. Since claiming his Yelp Page, Wade actively responds to reviews and customer requests—something that not only boosts his business, but aligns with his philosophy of taking care of customers personally.
“I realized the world has changed, and I have not, and I need to change with it,” he said. “So I claimed my business, started posting pictures, running ads, and marketing directly to the people that are gonna walk right in and pay us retail pricing rather than the wholesale pricing. That has worked out extremely well.”
In the past, Wade said he was nervous about using online platforms because he thought he wouldn’t have time to maintain them. But with some encouragement from his daughter and niece, he’s been able to capitalize on all the benefits, including expanded customer reach and easy communication with customers and leads.
“I [respond] right away because I think it’s important to do,” he said. “And I do answer every review with a thank you, letting them know that I appreciate it, because I really do. It’s really a nice thing that people do this.”
Photo from Heirloom Engravers on Yelp
These lessons come from an episode of Behind the Review, Yelp & Entrepreneur Media’s weekly podcast. Listen below to hear more from Emily and Wade, or visit the episode page to read more, subscribe to the show, and explore other episodes.
The information above is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice and may not be suitable for your circumstances. Unless stated otherwise, references to third-party links, services, or products do not constitute endorsement by Yelp.