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Never Give 100%
by Martin Avis |
An old boss of mine, years ago, said "Never give 100%.
Anyone can do that. Give 5% more and you'll be twice as
good as everyone else."
Now, his math may have been suspect, but his advice is
as valid now as it was then.
At the time though, I just thought he was a silly old
man who was trying to trick me into working even
harder. Oh, the folly of youth!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be
first, be different, be just." - Anita Roddick, founder
of Body Shop
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I read a story in the newspaper this week about a baker
called David Powell, whose rundown business was on the
brink of disaster. He realized that to succeed, he
would have to be better than everyone else. So he
specialized. He decided to bake the best muffins that
could be made.
But that wasn't enough.
Nobody bought them, so he decided to become the best
salesman that he could.
But that wasn't enough.
He figured that just selling muffins was never going to
make the business the giant that he dreamed about. So
he concentrated on selling to the very best, most
upscale outlets that he could find.
But that wasn't enough.
At the top of any market the pyramid gets mighty
narrow. His existing and potential customers were
competitors and didn't want to be seen all selling the
same brand of muffins. He didn't give up. Instead, he
changed his business so it could provide each customer
with individual products made to completely different
recipes.
"You might think we couldn't supply three different
companies who are rivals, but each company receives
different style muffins with different ingredients. We
even use different chocolate."
David's business is now turning over £7m ($10m) a year
and showing good profits.
He did it by refusing to be as good as everyone else.
Refusing to accept that 100% is enough. He went that
extra mile and is now reaping the rewards.
5% may not sound like much, but it truly is the
difference between being another drone and soaring like
an eagle.
The good news is that you never need to perform more
than one twentieth better than everyone else - a tiny
increment.
I had to write a marketing report for a client a few
months ago. Now a marketing report is not brain
surgery. It is pretty formulaic once you have the
experience to do it right. I did a good job, but knew
it wasn't any better than a report any marketing
consultant could have produced. So I spent a while
brainstorming ideas to lift the report out of the
'average' class into the 'great' category.
It didn't take long. I added a section at the end with
10 suggestions for that company to create more
business. They weren't straight marketing ideas, and
they certainly weren't all original. But the company
didn't expect them from me and were blown away that I
would do that for them. I achieved my aim of giving
105% of what they expected. And got a personal letter
of thanks from the CEO.
Anyone can do this in business. And the great news is
that all those 5 percents are cumulative.
"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion
to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their
chosen field of endeavour." Vincent T. Lomardi
If you make a concerted attempt to put an extra 5% into
your work or your life every week, people's perceptions
of you will grow at an incredible rate. This is because
every week you set a new baseline, 5% higher than the
last. Further and further above the crowd.
In a year you end up appearing to be not one-twentieth
better then everyone else, but 12 times better!
Once you get into the habit of delivering excellence it
is a roller-coaster that you can't get off. And why
would you want to? The view is so much better from up
here.
_______________________________________________________
Martin Avis publishes a free weekly newsletter:
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If you found this interesting or useful, why not have a look at the full list
of interesting and amusing business articles
Phil Robinson www.bpic.co.uk
June 2002