Why This Dream Job is Among the Most Stressful

In my opinion, being a fishing guide would be one of the hardest jobs you could have. People save up for months or years to buy your service. They may travel across the country or the world to do business with you. They have sky high expectations of catching that 500 pound marlin. You may guide 300 or more charters a year, so to you it could be just another day at the office. For your customers though, it may be a once in a lifetime opportunity. You’ve got to show up and turn out every day.

But even the best fishermen get skunked. It may be too hot, too cold, too rainy or too dry to catch your targeted species. Your customers may get seasick or maybe even drunk. Your customers may be terrible at fishing. The equipment may fail. There may be a million other boats closing in on you. Waves may swell. The fish may just not be biting. I would argue that almost everyone reading this column has more control over their daily success than a fishing guide does.

You are under constant pressure to deliver an experience of a lifetime and so much of the experience is out of your control.

If you’re new here, fishing is one of my lifelong passions and I've been blessed to get to fish with many guides all over the world. These guides are some of the best customer service professionals I’ve ever known and many become great friends.

Anthony is a great example. Anthony fishes the Gulf of Mexico almost every day of the year, sometimes doing two or even three charters a day. He does a million things well, but the focus he puts on customer service is amazing.

The first and last time I fished with him was over a year ago. A school of ladyfish were in a feeding frenzy just off our stern and he yelled to my son and me, "Throw a paddle tail!" 

I looked around at the lures, and it took me a few seconds to understand what he was saying. Then, we figured out what lure he meant and ended up catching a lot of fish. Later, I told him that at first I hesitated because back in Ohio we call that lure a "Joshy". He said he’d heard of different parts of the world calling that lure different names, but that was the first he’d heard of a “Joshy.”

And that’s where I thought the story ended.

Fast forward to present day. 

I emailed Anthony letting him know that as soon as we are vaccinated, I'm on my way to fish with him. The guy hasn't seen me in a year and has probably guided 400 charters since then. He immediately writes back to me:

Hey Bill, 

How are you? How are the Big Joshy baits working up north? Haha 

One year, hundreds of clients and thousands of fish later, he still remembered this seemingly small detail. I immediately felt the connection with him and I certainly will fish with him every chance I get. I’ve already referred him many times and will be sure to do so in the future.

Over the years, my business card has had a lot of titles, but I’m a salesman at heart. I love helping clients solve problems. I love to see a customer delighted with the service they receive. I think you need to have a good product, reputation and pricing to get the opportunity to sell, but ultimately, whether you are buying data analytics, online learning, medical records systems or a fishing trip, we are people, buying from people.

Yes, I want a fishing guide that knows how to catch fish. But I’m about to spend eight hours with you in the middle of the Gulf, sitting on nine inches of ice over 200 feet of water, during a storm on Lake Erie, or hiking through mountain streams, so it’s important that I also like you.

My lesson from Anthony? 

You can’t control the environment around you, the competition, or your clients’ knowledge or behaviors but you can listen, be responsive, care and make genuine connections with the clients you have the privilege of serving.