Team Alpha 375

Give More. Get More. by: Dan Jourdan There is something magical that goes on in this world. It is some powerful law of nature that we all know, but can’t see. It’s the formula that the cycle of giving comes back to you tenfold. Simple math would tell you then, that if you want to succeed in business, look at whatever you are providing to your customer and give more. Give more than you reasonably should. More than your competitors -- and more than your customers expect. At this point you become more than a supplier…you become an indispensable asset, a resource. You become a friend and an ally. How many of you have a friend you can call at two in the morning to pick you up from the airport? Most of you will have someone. Are you that person for someone else? Can you be counted on for anything or everything? I have a friend, Bill, who would stop the world to help me for anything. The funny thing is that he does this for everyone. He has made a career out of it. One time when I was preparing for a trip, I asked if I could borrow a cooler. He gave me one… but it was filled with food and even the ice packs to keep things cool. He calls his neighbors when he is having renovations done to the house and has a dumpster in his driveway so his neighbors can use it while it's there. When Bill got sick, he had many friends who left work early to mow his lawn, bring him food, and stay on call while he was hospitalized. His illness has revealed how his life's work of giving has paid off in tangible ways by the love and affection of so many. People are fighting to be in the front of the line to care for this man. Would that be the case with you and your customers? Here are five things you can do to increase your power through giving: 1. Take time to think about the needs and wants of the other person or customer. That doesn’t mean ten seconds before you walk into your customers office -- but actually set aside time to think. Think as if their success would impact yours…because it does. 2. Put yourself in others’ shoes. Sympathy is useless...empathy gets results. This means to really put yourself in the place of your customer and imagine what you would want if you were in his situation. Play this game for every customer and results will become evident quickly. 3. Come up with solutions, not excuses. Never has a statue been raised for a really good excuse maker. Excuse makers are reviled and avoided at all costs. Your value will be based on what you bring to the table. Bring solutions and you will be invited to stay at the table forever. 4. Recruit assistance. Here’s the thing; people love to help if you simply give them some credit. In fact, give them all the credit for your success. They will brag about how they knew you when, and how you would be nothing without them. (Which is good… because that means that you are something with them.) 5. Take action! This entire plan means nothing if you are still on your couch watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island. The secret to remember is that underneath the title on a business card is a person. A real person that just like you fell off his bicycle when he was four and a half, and needed someone to help him get back up so he could learn for himself how to ride. Your job is to always be on the lookout for people who may be falling down. Give help and assistance -- more than you think you should -- and you will receive more than you think you deserve. Every time.