I love the 212 degree analogy. What, not familiar with that one? Here it is in a nutshell. At 211 degrees you have hot water. At 212 degrees water boils. 1 degree makes all the difference. 1 degree takes you from hot stuff to enough power to influence yourself and others in many wonderful ways that are as unique as you are. Let me give you a couple of examples of how I was impacted by this over the last week by people involved in sales, just like me. It created some WOW! moments for me and some additional sales for them.
I got a call from the owner of a store I shop at a few times a year. I am certainly not one of his best customers but enjoy shopping with him on occasion. He called me last week to inform me that they were having a trunk show on Saturday by one of the vendors for which he knew I had an affinity. While it was a nice gesture I may or may not have attended based on how busy my day was. What sent me over the top was that he tied in this vendor with a national charity and had the vendor create a special item for which the proceeds of the sales would go to benefit the charity. New clothes for a cause! Reel me in. Not only did I go out of my way to get there last Saturday but I took my oldest son with me and he found several items that he wanted both now and in the future. Let's just say I spent more than I planned to and felt good about it. WOW!
There is a local store that we ocassionally shop and buy some very high end merchandise from in order to show it to our product development team and factories for various applications within our business. During a recent visit (in which we spent a good bit of money) we met the manager and exchanged cards and pleasantries. She made some promises that she would stay in touch - to which I assumed was much the same as hundreds of other retail transactions that I have made in the past. You know, the ones where they ask for your e-mail address so they can fill your in box with lame e-mails and sale announcements, etc., etc.? Last week I got a personal e-mail from the manager thanking me (again) for our last visit and advising us that based on our last visit and purchases she had personally selected some new styles that she thought we would be interested in. Not only that, she sent pictures of the styles and offered to deliver them to us directly if it would be easier than us taking time to come visit her at the store. WOW!
So I ask you, where do you think I'm going next time I need some new clothes? The next time I need to shop a store to see what the latest European fashions are? Here's the beauty...how long did it take for these two people to personally get in touch with me and not just try to sell me something but make it personal and meaningful to me - so much so that I am writing about them?! A minute or two each? Sure, some planning went in to both events but by going 1% more they turned me from a customer in to a fan. WOW!
So I ask you, where and how can you give 1% more? In your job? In your relationships? In your kindness towards others? In your communities and neighborhoods? What else?
I invite your feedback and ask you to share how and where 1% made all the difference for you in the coming week. Happy Memorial Day!
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