I was watching Music by John Williams the other night. It’s a documentary about the maestro’s life on Disney Plus.
And I’ll just say it…
I don’t throw the word genius around lightly.
But John Williams?
The guy is a genius.
In my opinion, he’s one of the greatest composers who ever lived.
Not film composers. Composers. Period.
If you’re even remotely into movies, he’s not just part of your experience. In a lot of cases, he is the experience.
Star Wars
Jurassic Park
Indiana Jones
Harry Potter
Schindler's List
E.T.
Jaws
Superman
The list goes on.
It’s absurd, really.
The body of work. The consistency. The fact that all you need is a few bars and you already know exactly what film you’re in.
You don’t need to see the scene.
You don’t need context. You hear it and you know the feeling.
You know the moment.
You know the character.
That’s not normal.
That’s not just talent.
That’s mastery at a level most of us will never come close to.
He captures the feeling so precisely that decades later, you hear it and you’re right back there.
This Is Where It Gets Interesting
I actually listen to movie scores on my drive into work all the time.
It relaxes me. It helps me focus. I get some of my best ideas then and there.
But every now and then, a track comes on and I’m not in the car anymore.
The Jurassic Park theme hits and I’m standing there.
I’m seeing those dinosaurs for the first time.
It’s instant.
That’s not nostalgia.
That’s something else.
And that got me thinking.
That’s not music.
That’s memory.
John Williams isn’t just writing scores.
He’s shaping how you remember the film.
The tension.
The wonder.
The fear.
The triumph.
He captures the emotional experience so perfectly that the music becomes inseparable from the story itself.
And most remodeling companies are doing the exact opposite.
They’re focused on:
Finishing the job.
Hitting the schedule.
Managing the budget.
Getting to the final walkthrough.
And don’t get me wrong. It all matters.
You can execute the project perfectly and still leave behind a bad memory.
But none of that is what the client remembers.
Five years from now, your client won’t remember:
The exact timeline.
The change order details.
The cabinet SKU.
They’ll remember:
How stressful it felt.
How clear, or unclear, communication was.
How problems were handled.
Whether they felt taken care of, or just managed.
In other words…
They remember the experience.
And that’s the part most companies leave to chance.
Here's the uncomfortable truth...
You can execute the project perfectly and still leave behind a bad memory.
Because the memory isn’t built in the final result.
It’s built in the moments along the way.
The unexpected issue.
The missed expectation.
The way a tough conversation was handled.
The feeling the client had when something didn’t go according to plan.
That’s the music.
Whether you realize it or not, you’re composing it the entire time.
Most companies finish the job.
Very few finish the experience.
The best companies are intentional about both.
They don’t just ask:
“Did we build it right?”
They ask:
“How did this feel to the client?”
Because that’s what gets repeated.
That’s what gets shared.
That’s what turns into either:
“You have to call these guys.”
Or…
“Yeah, the end result was nice, but…”
John Williams doesn’t leave the emotional impact of a scene up to chance.
He defines it.
He reinforces it.
He makes sure you feel exactly what you’re supposed to feel in that moment.
That’s the bar.
So here’s the question:
What does your client hear when they think back on working with you?
Because long after the dust settles…
Long after the punch list is done…
Long after the photos are taken…
They won’t be replaying the project.
They’ll be replaying how it felt.
And that story?
That’s the part you don’t get to edit later.
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