Going the Extra Mile: The Secret Sauce Inside Meaningful Relationships.

“Most people spend their lives scheming, looking for ways to do as little as possible, the bare minimum to get by…and then they have the audacity to expect superior rewards for inferior performance.”

Gary Ryan Blair

The above quote captures a critical perspective on human behavior and work ethic. 

It suggests that many individuals spend their time trying to find shortcuts or ways to exert the least effort possible, and what's baffling, they still hope to receive significant recognition or rewards for their minimal contributions. 

This kind of reminds me of all the empty suits masquerading around inside the sales world. 

What this highlights is the mismatch between effort and expectation, placing the focus on a perceived sense of entitlement and lack of ambition. 

What this implies is that true success and superior rewards are the results of hard work, dedication, and superior performance, rather than the bare minimum effort.

Unfortunately, doing the bare minimum ravages the sales world. Mediocrity has become the norm.

And yes, I just called out a huge elephant in the sales room.

This is why I believe average sales reps deliver exactly what is asked of them. 

While exceptional sales professionals deliver more. These professionals routinely deliver novel and astonishing ways to go the extra mile.

The extra mile is never crowded because it is not for mere sales dreamers, but sales doers.

Those salespeople, and you know who you are, who fail to travel the extra mile are often the first to chastise others rather than perform a critical self-assessment.

You see, sales professionals turn skeptics into fanatics and customers into clients.

A few questions for all you as we get started...

• What are you willing to do to turn skeptics into fanatics?
• What are you willing to do to go the extra mile for your clients?

To kick start your thinking... Allow the following quote from Napoleon Hill to sink in...

"Every seed of useful service you sow will multiply itself and come back to you in overwhelming abundance.”

What this suggests is that acts of kindness, service, or generosity you offer to others will eventually return to you multiplied. Now, I would like for you to think about your clients, need I say more?

The practice of this single principle can change the very experience of your entire personal and professional life.

As this starts to happen, how people respond to you changes, events around you change, and even what you focus on changes.

GOING THE EXTRA MILE

During a 1909 conversation with Andrew Carnegie, and after a compelling invitation, Napoleon Hill embarked on a monumental journey interviewing and studying some of the most successful and influential people in American history.

His mission, his burning desire, was to construct a philosophy of achievement based upon the common traits and practices that defined Andrew Carnegie along with his contemporary’s successes.

It was his goal to pass this knowledge on to anyone that wanted to hear it and embrace it.

The fourth principle of Napoleon Hill's 17 principles of success is the habit of going the extra mile.

Napoleon Hill said,

“Render more and better service than you are paid for, and sooner or later you will receive compound interest from your investment.”

What's forever old is forever new. This one principle alone will set you apart from all the empty sales reps and broken promises.

To quote Napoleon Hill,

"Going the extra mile, it means that you are rendering more and better service than you are paid to render and that you are doing it all the time as a regular, established habit. You are doing it without regard to the attitude in which that service is received by anybody, and you will do it in a pleasant, pleasing, positive mental attitude. You will not do it grudgingly."

In a world full of me-too and vanilla experiences, are you willing to go the extra mile for your clients?

What does going the extra mile look like?

How would you describe it?

Going the extra mile must be done authentically by your own will and not because you had to or because someone asked you to.

Authenticity combined with heart - going the extra mile has many advantages:

• It helps you strengthen and nourish relationships.
• It brings you closer to the other person, think of your clients.
• It makes both of you feel amazingly good.
• It will drive more willingness to help and be there for each other, now think of sales sustainability.

Wouldn't you want to know how your clients would describe what going the extra mile means to them?

THE EXTRA MILE EXPERIENCE

In today’s massively competitive marketplace, where your clients have more choices than ever before, extraordinary sales aren’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a necessity. 

It’s what sets you apart from the competition and keeps clients coming back time and time again.

Whether you’re a well-tenured veteran or just starting, please remember this, the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra. 

It’s the extra mile, the extra effort, the extra mile you’re willing to go to ensure your clients’ satisfaction. And in the end, that extra makes all the difference.

Sadly, many salespeople wish and do not commit to the process of being extraordinary or for that matter, going the extra mile.

Are you committed to creating business betterment for your clients or are you more worried about pushing products?

It becomes massively difficult to go the extra mile with a transactional mindset. 

Can this transactional mindset be caused by you? I will let you think about it.

I believe your clients hold the keys to your success. 

They're no longer at the mercy of you, your team, or even your company. In fact, they're more interested in the experience you and your team provide rather than the products or services being sold to them.

Your clients and their needs are constantly changing, it's up to you to understand how to help?

Think for a moment... What would your clients say about you and your ability to deliver the extra mile experience?

"Start going the extra mile and opportunity will follow you."

Napoleon Hill

I believe the client experience and how it is perceived is about going the extra mile. 

It's about going above and beyond without asking for or attaching something to it.

Now, in a few words, how would your clients best describe the experience they're receiving from you?

Come on, I'm waiting for the words. What would they be?

• Are you personalizing the level of service?
• Are you consistently consistent with your level of service?
• Are you listening to your clients? I mean REALLY listening.
• Are you going above and beyond the call of duty?

MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS ARE BUILT ON THE EXTRA MILE

“What we really need is a mindset shift that will make us relevant to today’s consumers, a mindset shift from telling to selling to building relationships.”

Jim Stengel

Are you building meaningful relationships with your clients? If you answered yes, how would you know? Have you sat down with your clients to even ask them?

Meaningful client relationships turn into a long-term, consistent and profitable business.

It's about going the extra mile in deepening the relationship.

I bet your clients value authenticity, personalized experiences, and meaningful interactions. I also bet they're less responsive to hard sales tactics and would rather connect with someone who gets them, sees them, values them and who is relevant to them.

Here's the mirror moment for many of you: 

• How well do you really understand what your clients want?
• How well do you really understand what they desire?
• Are you even relevant in their eyes?

Gut check time, isn't it? You uncover all of this when you go the extra mile.

Your clients are the single most important factor towards your long-term success. 

Therefore, the more successful you become in understanding and forming meaningful relationships with your clients, the more successful you will become.

The more you go the extra mile, the more you grow with their clients.

In a post-trust world, no wonder many (yes some of your clients) are skeptical about what you say, how you say it, and why you say it.

Does the first mile of your walk match the second mile of your walk?

THRIVE AND GO THE EXTRA MILE

“Going the Extra Mile is providing extra service, with the highest possible quality, then you are being paid to do. It is more than ‘dotting the I’s’ and ‘crossing the T’s’, it is seeking to provide an unexpectedly positive experience to the receiver. Going the Extra Mile allows you to leverage your pleasing personality, enthusiasm, and personal initiative as you actively share yourself with your environment."

Robert Newell

Are you willing to become intentional with going the extra mile?

When you go the extra mile, you're sowing the seeds for your future. Any extra in-mile action is an investment in your future.

When you go the extra mile, you are paving the road to sales sustainability and excellence.

I believe it’s the little things that matter and what your clients remember. 

People appreciate when others put even small amounts of time and effort to make them feel happy and satisfied. The same can be said about your clients.

It's usually never about moving heaven and earth to meet their expectations, but rather about showing that you simply care. Here at Selling from the Heart, we call this giving a rip.

As we bring our time together to a close, please reflect upon the following:

Are you having meaningful conversations with your clients outside of the selling process? 

What's preventing you from truly getting to know your clients and going the extra mile?

You all have a choice. You can decide if you're going to leave your efforts at ‘this is good enough’, or are you going to push yourself to achieve better results?

"Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. The ladder of success is never crowded at the top. The more you give, the more comes back to you. Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another."

Napoleon Hill

The road towards that extra mile all starts with the first step.

Are you willing to take the first step?

Originally published on Larry Levine's LinkedIn.