In the last episode of “A life tailored to you”, Eric Valladares explained that one of the things that had given him the best results when he was the owner of a Chinese restaurant was surprising his customers with some small detail.
There were times when he would give them a slice of a special dish that he thought they might like.
Other times he invited them to a dessert or a drink.
But whenever he could, he had some kind gesture with his diners that they did not expect.
According to Eric, this philosophy of always trying to give a little more was hardly a cost to him.
However, it had more of an impact on the restaurant’s growth than any of the marketing or advertising campaigns he did because customers valued it so much and were so appreciative that a few weeks later they returned to the restaurant or recommended it to all their friends.
I know you probably aren’t a restaurant owner like Eric was.
In fact, you may not even work with clients or public faces.
Even so, I wanted to share this story with you because the philosophy of “always give a little more than what is expected of you” is applicable to any area of life and one of the best ways to promote yourself and excel in anything you do. you do.
And it is that, in a world in which the law of minimum effort prevails, the few who have the generosity to go a step further and give a little more than is strictly necessary shine with their own light.
This is something I see constantly, for example, in my formations.
Most of the students just do what I ask. Better or worse, but what I ask of you.
However, there is always a small group of people who, in addition to watching the lessons and doing the exercises (and doing them with enthusiasm, which is another), lend a hand to the rest of their colleagues, share additional resources with the community… and At the end of the program, they give their tutor a small gift to thank him for his work, record a testimonial and send us an email with constructive suggestions for improvement.
The behavior of these students draws so much attention that both my team and I know perfectly well who they are.
And if, at some point, we need to hire a new collaborator or receive an interesting offer, the first people we think of are them.
But not only that, but in general we are going to do everything possible to help them with whatever is in our power and add value to them, because somehow we feel the need to give them back that little detail they have had with us.
This philosophy of “always give a little more than what is expected of you” also works when looking for a job.
In fact, recently I was talking about this with my friend Javi Pastor in a masterclass that we recorded together on the subject.
We both agreed that, in all our selection processes, there was a small percentage of the candidates who not only limited themselves to doing the task that we asked of them and that’s it, but went a step further and delivered something so well worked and so complete. that as soon as we saw him, the first thing that came to mind was: “but who is this person?”
For example, one of the tasks that I asked for in order to apply for the virtual assistant offer that I published a few years ago was to find 3 possible venues in Barcelona to organize an event with certain characteristics.
I remember that most of the candidates did just that: they sent me a list of 3 locations along with a short description or a brief explanation of why they had chosen them.
Some even included the phone number and contact email of each site, to make it easier for me to contact them.
But there were two people who prepared a dossier for me with 10 different places ordered from best to worst, photos of each one of them, a complete summary of all its characteristics including the nearest metro station…
The result?
I hired one of those two people, Isa, who has been working with me ever since, and with the other I am still in contact and have a good relationship.
Javi, for his part, recently made an offer for a Social Media Manager position.
In his case, the practical test was to make a proposal to run the social networks of his school.
And what happened is that 95% of the candidates just sent you a couple of sample posts or a plan with hardly any details, and there were only 5 people who sent you a complete plan with different types of posts analyzed, ideas, suggestions , a calendar several months ahead…
Of those 5 people, Javi chose the one who did the best on a technical level, but curiously… the other 4 also ended up working!
Some because he hired them for other positions, and others because he recommended them to friends of his who were also looking for someone to take their networks, but the final hiring rate for that small group was 100%.
Because I insist: when you give more than what is expected of you, your behavior attracts so much attention from the people with whom you interact that their natural tendency is to want to help you, return the detail in some way and even try to make you part of it. his life, and that opens many doors for you.
Most people aren’t aware of this, but a small change in attitude can have a big impact on your life and the results you get.
Therefore, my proposal for today is simple:
I want to encourage you to adopt the philosophy of “going one step further” for 30 days.
To give a little more than what is expected of you in the different areas of your life and in your interactions with others.
For example…
- When you check out of an Airbnb, leave it tidy instead of a mess like everyone else so the owner or cleaning staff have less work to do (or at least so they don’t freak out when they walk in).
- When your boss asks you for something, think about what else you can do on your end to save him time, make his life easier in some way, or help him look good in front of his boss.
- When you go on a trip, bring a small gift to the reception girl at the office, the cafeteria worker who makes your coffee every day, or the security guard you always chat with while smoking your cigarette. That is, to that person with whom you interact on a regular basis but whom nobody ever remembers
Try to cultivate that generosity, to behave in such a way that everyone who has contact with you thinks: “I wish the whole world was like this boy or like this girl.”
In most cases, these are small details that will not cost you much, but that, as Eric says at the end of his interview, “will make everything go more smoothly, you feel better, and that -in an inexplicable way although surely reasonable – your luck is multiplied.”
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