When Good Customers Train Good Companies

Growth

In the world of professional services, we often think of companies as the experts gurus, guiding customers through their needs and dictating what they need. Sometimes, the tables are turned, and it’s the customers who end up training the companies for the good. These rare, collaborative relationships can shape not just individual careers but entire industries by the simple acts of the customer themselves. Here’s one such story, my story set in 2001, that demonstrates how a single customer’s approach left a lasting impact and improved skillset far beyond my limited scope and capabilities.

The Context: CAT5e Networking in 2001

In the early 2000s, residential networking was in its infancy. While about 56% of U.S. households owned a computer, only 50% had internet access, and most of that was still dial-up. Broadband, which made high-speed networking desirable, was available in just 10.4% of homes. At this time, the CAT5e standard had recently been introduced, offering improved performance for Gigabit Ethernet over distances up to 100 meters. However, few homes were pre-wired for Ethernet, and networking expertise among electricians was rare and I knew little to nothing about any of it other than daisy chaining phones was bad.

This was the world I found myself in as an electrical worker in early 2001, with no knowledge of networking. My task? To wire a wealthy customer’s home on Bainbridge Island with CAT5e and set up a home network—something I didn’t even know existed, not even sure if I knew what the word networking meant.

The Customer Who Trained Me

The customer was a successful IT professional who had made his fortune during the .com boom. He could have easily taken a hardline approach, expecting me to have advanced networking expertise or berating me for not delivering fast enough or quality as expected. Instead, he chose to intellectually support and guide me throughout the whole installation.

With a mix of patience and gentle nudges, he taught me the basics of networking while I worked on his project. He didn’t just help me complete the job; he introduced me to a skill set that would become essential in my industry years later and kept his project going and completed in the correct way in the end. This experience marked the beginning of my journey into home networking, well ahead of its widespread adoption.

The Alternative: When Customers Sabotage

Contrast this with the “bad customer” archetype—one who demands unrealistic results, micromanages, or punishes professionals for a lack of expertise in emerging fields. These customers stifle growth, discourage innovation, and create toxic feelings and distant type of relationship that can drive talented capable individuals out of the industry. It is important to recognize talent is the intent and desire to do good work from the installer and skill comes after that. Had my Bainbridge Island client chosen this route, I might have never pursued networking further, and my career might have taken a different path, probably gone into law school.

The Ripple Effect

That one supportive customer didn’t just help me complete a single job; he had a ripple effect on my entire career. Today, more than two decades later, I can confidently design and implement advanced home networks, a skill still uncommon among many electricians. In fact, I know professionals in 2024 who still lack this knowledge—a testament to how forward-thinking my client was in 2001. What makes his actions so valuable was his expertise and the willingness in dissemination of knowledge without the expectation of service other than the work being performed. He was not outwardly worried about time, not overzealously concerned with cost or about all the other little things that create stress. Now yes, he was wealthy so he did have this capability to choose, but he choose and his choice increased the quality of craftsmanship for the area for years.

The Numbers Tell the Story

• In 2001, home networking was rare. Broadband was in only 10.4% of homes, and the concept of home servers was limited to tech enthusiasts.
• CAT5e cabling was new, and many electricians, and I myself at the time, were unfamiliar with its applications and it was very difficult to find information on this.
• Today, networking is a critical part of home design, with the global home automation market valued at over $72 billion in 2023, according to industry reports. But other integrations are new and rare.

This transformation highlights the importance of early adopters—both customers and professionals—who are willing to identify good intentioned installers with limited skills and take risks, learn, and grow together.

The Lesson: Customers as Industry Builders

This story illustrates a powerful lesson: the right kind of customer can shape an industry by supporting and developing the professionals they work with. My Bainbridge Island client didn’t just get his home networked; he contributed to the development of a workforce that would later meet the demands of a connected world, increased the technical skilled labor for the Island for several decades.

This collaborative approach benefits everyone. Customers receive better service in the long run, professionals grow their skill sets, and industries evolve to meet future needs. It’s a subtle yet profound form of civic duty, and it’s something we should all strive to emulate—whether as customers or professionals.

Conclusion

When customers train companies, they do more than solve immediate problems—they lay the groundwork for future success. My Bainbridge Island customer’s willingness to guide me, rather than criticize me, catalyzed my career in networking and contributed to the growth of an industry that’s now indispensable.

The next time you work with a professional, consider the impact of your approach. Are you fostering growth and collaboration, or are you creating obstacles? The choice you make might just shape the future, one single professional—and reshape that industry.

www.caseyarcade.com