Knowing Where to Tap
Dorothy Vernon-Brown
![Dorothy Vernon-Brown]()
Dorothy Vernon-Brown
????Marketing Automation, AI Agents & Chatbots For Growing Entrepreneurs | Author: The Automatic Follow-up Formula | Get Clients on Autopilot | Scale Without Burnout ??Canada’s BBPA Women of Honour Recipient
You’ve probably heard the story of the broken steam ship engine and the broiler-maker.
It is an old story.
It you haven’t, you are in luck and if you have, it bears repeating. (It's a great quick story so stay with me to the end).
There was once a broiler-maker who was hired to fix a broken steam ship engine.
After listening to the engineer’s description of the problem, he asked a few questions and went to the broiler room to see the problem first hand.
He listened to the hiss of the escaping steam.
He observed and felt the twisting pipes.
After deliberating for a few minutes, he reached into his overall, pulled out a small hammer and then gave the bright red valve a tap - just once.
Voila!
The entire steam engine began working beautifully again.
Everyone was happy and the broiler-maker went home.
Soon after, he sent his invoice to the steam ship owner for payment.
When the steam ship owner received his $1000 invoice, he was outraged and complained bitterly about how overpriced it seemed.
Afterall, the broiler-maker had only been there for 15 minutes so the steam ship owner demanded that the invoice be itemized.
And so it was.
Tapping the valve: $1
Knowing where to tap: $999
TOTAL: $1000
The moral of the story...
There are many professionals and tradespeople you'll come across who can ‘tap the valve’ - no problem.
Their talk is intoxicating.
Big. Bold.
Even audacious.
I’ve come across those.
But, only few know precisely where to tap and why.
So, the next time you engage or want to engage a competent professional or tradesperson, it may be useful to determine if you are paying to tap the valve or you are paying for the?Know How?of where to tap the valve.
You usually get what you pay for.
As you know, competence and?Know How?typically?pays for itself over and over again.
Incompetence....another broiler-maker story.