If you want to really excel in business, go the extra mile. Give the people around you – your customers, your team – more than they expect, and you’ll be handsomely rewarded with loyalty, referrals, opportunity and money and you will get greater success.
Successful people go the extra mile – and they stand out as a result. They get the loyal customers. They grow their businesses twice as fast and attract the best employees. They receive financial rewards and job security. Best of all, they go home at night feeling satisfied and bursting with self-confidence.
If you want to excel, stop focusing on what’s in it for you. Don’t worry about whether it’s fair to give more when you’re not being compensated or recognized for it. Don’t adopt the “it’s not my job” mentality. This type of attitude shows that you’re focused on yourself, but you’ll see bigger results more quickly if you make other people the focus of your attention.
Going the extra mile shows that you pay attention to detail, that you consider all the small things that really make a business successful, that you care about your image, and that you belong with all the other people who work hard to achieve. You will attract new business and new opportunities.
4 Questions to Ask to Achieve Greater Success
Here are four simple questions that can help you evaluate how well you’re putting this principle into play in your life:
- What do most people expect? To know how to exceed expectations, you first have to know what expectations are. What level of service do customers expect? What do your vendors want? How about your employees or master mind partners? Look at every important relationship you have, and discover what the minimum expectations are.
- Take a candid look at your performance. Do you exceed expectations? Do you surprise people with more than they were expecting from you? Do you look for ways that you could be of more service, or for projects that you could help out on? Or are you skating by, meeting expectations and providing average value?
- How are you willing to go the extra mile? What kind of extra service are you willing to provide in order to stand out from the rest? If you aren’t 100 percent willing to deliver service above and beyond expectations, why not?
- What can you do to exceed expectations? What added service would your customers love, but don’t expect? How could you better serve your boss and company? How could you provide more value to your students? When Mike Foster ran a computer store, he never let anyone walk out of the store without a box of components. He delivered the computer, printer, modem and other components. He then spent two hours setting up the system and training the customer how to use it. He wildly exceeded customer expectations, and his store dominated his local industry as a result.
Be willing to treat everyone like you’d treat your dearest friend. Don’t skimp on service. Don’t be mediocre or run of the mill. Show people what you are capable of. Show them that you care about your image and reputation. When it comes to success, the people who are willing to go the extra mile get there that much faster!
To your success,
