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What Do Exceptional Performers All Have In Common?

What makes some business people more successful than others? According to Earl Nightingale, a famous radio personality and producer of self-improvement cassette programs said that to be successful, your rewards should always be in direct proportion to the amount of service you render. As such, people who serve others, prosper while those who do not serve don’t.

What Failures Don’t Like to Do

As a business owner, serving your customers’ needs effectively means that you must do the things that unsuccessful business owners don’t do. The things that those unsuccessful people don’t do are the things that most of us don’t like to do either.

There is no doubt that it is difficult to work long hours or on weekends when your family is waiting for you at home, and only have a couple of “shoppers” stop by or be stood up for an appointment someone made with you.

Enough of these experiences can be discouraging for anyone. And after a while, some people just quit trying. But if you keep up the quality of your service to your clients and customers, they will more and more continue to do business with you because that kind of personal service is very hard to find. In the end, it is what makes the difference between the successful and unsuccessful business.

Personal Qualities for Success

Service is essential, but there are also a number of other personal qualities that if developed, will help you to become successful in your business endeavor.

Sacrifice and Determination

For everything in life, there is a price and in many instances, sacrifice. If you want to reap the rewards a successful business can provide, you’re going to have to do what Earl Nightingale said. You are going to have to do “…the things that unsuccessful business owners don’t want to do.”

That may mean leaving the comfort of your store or office to see what your customers need even during inconvenient times. If you are just starting out in or want to increase your business and achieve some new goals, then you may have to make that sacrifice. It is important to be sure that you have the support of your family, along with tons of patience and understanding, as they will be making sacrifices as well.

Self-Responsibility

You are responsible for the success of your business and your life. There are no excuses. However, do not discount the possibility of setbacks. Your family situation may change; your suppliers or vendors may discontinue selling, economies change and corporate policies change and so on.

While those things definitely have an impact on the way you do business and the sales you make, it is important to realize that those things are beyond your control. But for all other things, here’s a little credo that can help you. It contains just ten, two-letter words:
“If it is to be, it is up to me.”

That simple one-line sentence says it all. It places the responsibility exactly where it should be… directly on your shoulders.

Commitment

Commit to your success. Once you have made the decision to be in business, be in that business. Get into it with both feet. Don’t let anything hold you back.
In the same veracity, see to it that the business gets into you. This can be done by focusing on one business at a time. Don’t try to work two different jobs or projects at one time. You can’t do either of them justice, and you’ll likely end up frustrated and broke, and never know whether or not you could have been successful. Set your goals and then keep yourself moving toward them.

Go the Extra Mile

It’s the “Under promise, over deliver” concept, and can be summed up in the following statement coined by Robert Cialdini in his book, “Influence: The Psychology of

Persuasion”:

“If you are always willing to do more than what you get paid for, the day will come when you will be paid for more than what you actually do.”

So, when you go the extra mile for your customers or clients, you’ve just set the stage for the Law of Reciprocity to take effect. But it’s only on that “extra mile” that this works. When you give what might be considered “normal” service, or “adequate” service, or even “good” service, or even “knock-out” service you haven’t earned the right to expect that law to work for you.

You’ve really got to do something special in order to gain an advantage in today’s highly competitive marketplace. Then, and only then, can you expect to create that compelling desire in your customer to want to reciprocate.

After all,“there’s no traffic jam on the extra mile.”

Time Management

Your time is precious because it is a finite commodity; therefore, it is important that you master and take control of it. You must treat your time as precious, and guard it wisely and selfishly. Don’t let anyone disrupt you or take you away from.

People who don’t have goals are used by people who do. If you let others draw you away from your goals, you are simply saying that their goals are more important than your own. So if you are serious about business success––really serious, then this is one of the most important and critical areas to defend.

“Murray Priestley has 25 years of commercial and asset management experience having served in board, CEO and senior executive positions with a number of global public and private companies.”