What Separates You From Others in Your Industry?

I recently read the blog "Do All People Suck?" and it got me thinking, what separates you from the others in your industry?

Some people teach others, some people are great with communication, some take continuing education classes that they can actually benefit from, however there are way too many people that simply do what they have to in order to get by. they take classes they are not interested in, simply to meet the requirements. I recently heard a broker telling agents how to take a two hour on line class in 15 minutes. I was appalled.

I have a lock box key that requires a CBS code to access the property. I can not count the number of times I call the listing agent for a CBS code and they don't even know what it is. They don't take the time to learn how to save themselves time in the future.

I am on the AZ board of Technical Registrations (AZ BTR) Enforcement advisory committee. I see complaints on home inspectors that are stupid simply because the inspector didn't want to take the time to write a coherent report. They fail to address the items the Standards of Practice require them to report on.

So I pose the question, What do you do?

I am a home inspector and a residential and commercial general contractor. In my business communication is the key. If my home inspection clients cant understand my report, then what did they pay for?

If I find one electrical issue and tell them to have the entire electrical system evaluated and have repairs performed by a licensed electrician and then follow that by saying there is a broken tile on the roof, have the entire roof evaluated and repairs performed by a licensed roofing contractor, am I really serving my clients?

I try to put the issues in perspective. I separate the major issues from the minor ones and I make sure my client gets my agreement before the inspection so they know what to expect from me.

I make my living off of referrals from real estate agents and attorneys. It only takes a few problems to stop those referrals, so I do my best to make sure there are no issues and if I make a mistake, as we all do sometimes, I do my best to resolve the issue to exceed my clients expectations.

So again I ask you, What separates you from others in your industry?