Whenever speaking at sales conferences on The Five Laws from The Go-Giver, I invest a lot of time discussing Law #1 which has to do with providing value to others. In today’s society where technology has in so many ways leveled the playing field in terms of quality, one often-asked question is, “How does one separate oneself from those selling a similar product?”
My answer is that “you must be that extra value.” This is often via what John David Mann and I call the five Elements of Value: Excellence, Consistency, Attention, Empathy, and Appreciation.
Sometimes, it’s the big things that communicate value. Sometimes it’s the little things. Or, the seemingly little things.
And, whether we’re discussing sales, leadership, administration, or in any other context where we must communicate value, our ways of adding value are limited only by our imagination, and our…desire to — and willingness to find a way to — be that value.
Which brings me to Leslie Carlen, who is Kathy Zader’s and my executive assistant.
On the phone and in her email communications with our customers and clients, Leslie is amazing; sweet, kind, helpful, goes the extra mile. She does that for us, as well.
The following was typical Leslie:
I had a rare speaking engagement in West Palm Beach which was about 20 minutes south of me. While I know the general area, in an email to the client (in which I copied Leslie) I asked for some clarification in the directions to the event site.
In my daily itinerary that Leslie sends me telling me everything that I’m doing that day :-), there was a note underneath the part about the talk. It said:
Noticed you asked Sarah about directions…
And, they were printed right there for me.
I hadn’t asked Leslie to do that. She saw a need and filled that need without even being asked.
No big deal? Big deal? I guess it depends upon how you define “big deal.”
As I tell my audiences:
“Value is always in the eyes of the beholder.”
Leslie has learned what Kathy and I value and she takes it upon herself to add that value; to be that value.
Yep, I go with…big deal.
How do people in your life and business add value to you? How do you do that for others? Feel free to share.
Great Points as always Bob… We as people need to choose to take it upon ourselves to go the extra miles for others and that also takes us paying attention in reading and listening to our clients in order to do so… thanks for another brilliant post… Happy Holidays… And Yes You and Kathy are blessed to Have Leslie…
Carly: Thank you. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us. And, indeed, we are very blessed to have Leslie. She ROCKS!! 🙂