 Sales
Moves Best Practices
The Mile
Between Satisfied and Loyal - The EXTRA Mile
By Jeffrey H.
Gitomer
Have you ever heard the phrase, He went the extra mile?
I want to talk to you about the “extra mile” in a way
that you might understand it and use it to build
customer loyalty.
The extra mile is an action or an expression that sparks
a WOW! in the mind of the customer or a co-worker. It’s
an unexpected deed. But before an extra mile is ever
walked or executed, it has to be an attitude and a
mindset from the extra miler.
I want to talk about where the extra mile comes from,
where extra mile stories are created and how powerful
they are. Those extra mile stories create the foundation
for a company that goes from good, to great, to world
class -- using the power and the strength of internal
and external loyalty, combined with doing the right
thing -- no, let me say, doing the best thing, for your
fellow associates, your customers, and yourself.
The extra mile comes from YOU. And extra mile stories
come from you -- based on your ability to react,
respond, recover, and add plus one using your best
skills in time of need.
The interesting part about the extra mile is that it
usually begins when something goes wrong or is in urgent
need of attention. The weather. The service call. The
broken equipment. The inventory. The delivery. Co-worker
needs. Customer needs. Or when incidents or accidents
occur that are beyond your control when they happen --
but in your control in the way that you respond to them,
and the way you react to them.
The underlying element in the extra mile is your
prevailing attitude at the moment an extra mile
opportunity shows up. If you’re in a bad mood, or a down
mood, based on other things that have happened
throughout your day, the odds are that when an
opportunity arises to turn something bad into something
great, you won’t even see it. You’ll look at it as “one
more thing in a bad day.” Let’s get one thing straight:
Bad days are self-inflicted. You give them to yourself.
And it’s likely when you give them to yourself; you’re
also giving them to others. In order for an extra mile
incident to occur, and an extra mile story to blossom,
YOU, the most important person in the world, must be
mentally prepared to make it occur and make it blossom.
You’ve all heard the phrase, “Every obstacle presents an
opportunity.” You’ve also heard, “When it rains lemons,
make lemonade.” Those are easy phrases to talk about
when there are no obstacles, and it’s NOT raining
lemons. Your challenge is to have a bowl of sugar and a
lemon squeezer with you at all times so that when
someone calls with a complaint, with an emergency, or
with an obstacle of any kind -- your first thought is,
“What is the real opportunity here?” And your second
thought is “How can I help?”
And as with all of my lists, there’s a .5 -- and the
extra mile measurement .5 is “AM I DOING MY BEST?”
That’s not just the question you have to ask yourself --
that is the mantra by which you guide your career and
your life. Doing your best and having the right attitude
is the only way the extra mile process works. It works
because you make it work. It happens because you make it
happen.
I’m going to make you a promise: There’s at least one
extra mile story in you every week. Your job is to
recognize it, document it, learn from it, and get into
the personal habit of being an extra mile person. Once
you do this, you won’t have to tell your own extra mile
story -- people will begin to tell them about you.
Customer loyalty comes about when you take loyal actions
on behalf of the customer. It’s not the everyday things
– it’s the everyday things done BEST. And when you
combine “best every day” with “extra mile whenever
possible” you have the formula for loyalty.
The secret has already been revealed twice in this
column, but I want to be certain you get it. Best
actions and extra mile actions are only possible when
your mindset and attitude are set on positive. All
things are possible in your life and in your career, if
you will only dedicate yourself to the continuing
process of thinking your best, being your best, and
going the extra mile.
Jeffrey
Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book of Selling
and The Little Red Book of Sales Answers. President of
Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs
annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training
programs on sales and customer service at
www.trainone.com.
He can be reached at 704/333-1112 or e-mail to
salesman@gitomer.com
© 2007 All Rights Reserved - Don't even think about
reproducing this document without written permission
from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer . 704/333-1112
www.gitomer.com
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