Value Worthy of Devotion and The Power of Prominence

The Power of Prominence is a powerful, yet simple strategy that almost single-handedly can transform your business or career. It makes people enthusiastic to do business with you instead of your competitors. It will give you an uncanny insight into what people want, and why they act and react in various ways. It will turn clients into, literally, friends for life. And it will strengthen your passion and connection to everyone with whom you associate.

Why do some people gain levels of success so much higher than others?

Frequently it's due to the fact they have a better philosophical strategy. They approach everyone they deal with in a totally different and more effective way than anyone else does. And while their competitors are usually unable to figure out this strategy, it is one anyone in business can successfully employ by simply changing your focus from “me” to “you.” This is true whether you own a business of your own or work for a corporation. This simple adjustment in your focus is the key to what I believe is the most powerful business (and life) strategy you can employ. I call it the “Strategy of Prominence.”

Once you begin to use it, you will always - not just sometimes - but always stand out in the minds, hearts and checkbooks of your client, your employees, your employer, or your boss as the very best there is. The preeminent choice. The "Prominent" Choice.

The Strategy of Prominence is quite simply the ability to always put your clients' needs ahead of your own. When you master that your success will naturally follow. If it seems backwards to put your clients' best interests ahead of your own that's understandable. In fact, that is the reason so many businesses are unremarkable, unmemorable and, ultimately, unsuccessful.

It's amazing how many people and companies will say and do whatever it takes to make a one-time sale rather than taking the time to understand the clients' desired outcome. And then having the courage and the concern to tell that client that what they really need is much less than what they told you they wanted. You may, when you take this approach, end up with a smaller initial sale but you will have just made a new friend, someone who will remember you the next time. And will, no doubt, tell his friends about you and your company.

A CLIENT, NOT A CUSTOMER

I'm going to repeat a few short ideas from earlier in the book because they make an extremely important point.

Consider the definition of these two words: Customer: One who purchases a commodity or service. Client: One who is under the protection of another.

If you use the word “customers,” that's fine. But always think of them as
“clients.” And when you start to “serve” clients rather than “sell” clients the limits on your business success will disappear.

What exactly does “under your protection” mean? In this case it means that you don't sell them a product or service just so you can make the largest one-time profit possible. You must understand and appreciate exactly what they need when they do business with you - even if they are unable to articulate that exact result themselves.

Once you know the final outcome they need, you lead them to that outcome - you become a trusted advisor who protects them. And they have reason to remain your client for a lifetime.

When a father comes into your store to buy his six-year-old son his first bicycle, what is he looking for? What does he need? Does he just want bicycle? No. He's looking for one of the most joyful sharing experiences of a lifetime - teaching his son how to ride a bicycle. Just like his father taught him to ride a bicycle when he was six. He's looking for a memory that will last for the rest of his life and his little boy's. He's looking for that once-in-a-lifetime moment when his son, smiling ear-to-ear and speeding down the street, yells, “Look, Dad, I'm riding a two-wheeler!”

So, do you sell the father and his son the top-of-the-line, highest profit margin bike in the store? Maybe, if that's the best solution to your client's problem. But you definitely should tell the father that you've seen hundreds of dads come in to buy their child's first bike and you know what a wonderful experience he and his son are about to have. And possibly a less expensive model would be better for his son. It's the little guy's first bicycle and he may crash it into a tree or two. You make the sale and you just became a trusted advisor to the father.

The father realizes you didn't just “sell him a product.” You “protected” him. He became a client. In a couple of years his son will need a new bike. Where do you think he'll go to buy it?

And at that point the upscale, high-profit-margin model might be the best choice.

Maybe the entire family will want bikes to ride together.

And when the time comes for the little boy to buy his son his first bicycle, where do you think he'll go?

The strategy of Prominence doesn't apply only to selling clients your product or service. This strategy is of equal importance to anyone, in any business situation. If you're in administration, legal, shipping - any department - you should use the strategy of Prominence as a basis for dealing with everyone. Be a problem solver, not a problem bringer. Add value to every task you undertake on your employer's behalf. Anyone, in any situation, who can look at you as a trusted friend who is providing service that will benefit them in some way, will be more than willing to sing your praises to those who have the ability to advance your career. Not just because you helped them. But also because they will want to continue to take advantage of the valuable service you provide them.

Whatever you do, if you focus on giving value and advice instead of manipulating and maneuvering, you win over many more prospects, clients, bosses, colleagues and friends. And you will be rewarded in ways you never dreamed.

FALLING IN LOVE

One of the biggest mistakes, probably the biggest mistake, people make in any business is they fall in love with the wrong thing. They fall in love with their product, service or company. You should believe passionately in your product, service or company. But you should fall in love with your clients. By client I mean several groups. Not only the people and businesses who pay you for your goods or services. But also your employees, bosses, team members, and vendors.

Awesome service is admirable but trite. Falling in love with your clients means taking responsibility for their well being. Putting their best interests ahead of your own.

Most people think, “What do I have to say to get people to buy?” Instead you should say, “What do I have to give? What benefit do I have to render?” It has nothing to do with sales shenanigans or trickery or schemes. It has everything to do with what benefits you give your clients.

The more value you give others, the more value you generate. Not only for your clients but for yourself. The more contributions you make to the richness of the lives of your clients, the more bonded you will be to them and they to you. And the more successful you will become.

The focus of your concern should state to the client, in essence, “You matter. Your well being is important to me.”

See yourself as becoming an agent of change. A creator of value. A value contributor.

YOU GIVE MORE THAN YOU REALIZE

I was advising a group of realtors. I asked them if they really thought that they provided superior value to their clients. Some said “absolutely.” Some didn't know. I asked them the question differently. I said, “Well let me ask you these questions: If I chose another real estate agent over you, would he/she represent me at the same level? Would he/she research the market? Would he/she market me to other realtors? Because that's what you really are when you list the property - you're a
marketing agent whose job it is to sell that property to other agents.”

Next, I said, “Would other agents negotiate, research, identify opportunities for me to buy the same way? Would they negotiate the transaction? Would they hand-hold it? Would they fight to get me the lowest rates? Would they negotiate to give me a lower cost that most people have to pay?”

And they said, “No - we do things that other people don't.” (Because I had a core group of really successful, aggressive realtors.)

I said let's take some scenarios. If a family had come to you eager to sell their house for any number of reasons, either positive or negative. And you helped them realize a greater outcome than they thought they could get. (i.e., They thought they were going to have to sell for $200,000 but you were able to get them $240,000. They thought it was going to take six months and you were able to do it in two months.)

Didn't you enrich their life?

But how well did you enrich it? First of all, you took four months worth of uncertainty out of their life by selling the house quickly. Or, you put several thousand extra dollars in their pocket, money they otherwise wouldn't have had. Money for retirement. Money for paying bills or to invest in their new house, or use to fund education or holidays.

If you help somebody who thought he/she could only afford a $300,000 house get a $350,000 house because you got them a better rate, then you are looking out for your clients well being. You increased their life style. You moved them into a different environment. You gave them more than they expected.

Conversely, if somebody thought they were going to have to spend $350,000 but you were able to get them a house for $300,000 that was even bigger and better, you changed the quality of their life. You gave them enough money so they could do so many more things.

Just look at the impact of your efforts. You did them so much more than you've ever given yourself credit for. Didn't you really enrich their life at a deep level? Didn't you have a major impact?

And they said yes. And I said, well, if that's the case, and you invested three or four months of your life in the relationship, didn't you? And they said yes.

And I said, did you get emphatically involved in their hopes, their dreams, their needs, their situation? All the key issues? Their complexities? Their family problems or situations? Yes?

I said, didn't you really befriend them? And they said yes. So didn't they reciprocate and befriend you? They said yes. Then doesn't that mean you have a very deep, rich friendship which you invested in? And they said yes.

Would you just drop any other friend of yours and let them fall out of your life after you had one social transaction with them? And they said no. So I said, they why would you let that happen with this friendship? If they are dear and a valued friend, would you let any other friend let a dangerous mistake? Would you let any other friend really jeopardize their life? Would you let any other friend let somebody important to them do something stupid or dangerous or inadvisable? And they said no.

Then why would you allow any important friend of yours who is a past client, let any important friend of theirs or a relative or family member or co-worker do anything that was dangerous? In the scope of any given period of time, or in the lives of any important friend or yours, i.e., a former client, there are so many people whose lives are changing.

They're getting older and they're outgrowing their house because their children are gone and they need a smaller place. They're getting married and they need a bigger place. They have been married and living in an apartment but now they have children and they're ready to make a commitment. They have a death in their family and they have a necessity to downsize. They have a divorce in their family and they have a necessity to downsize. They have a move, or reversal in their business, and they have a
necessity to downsize. They have a great achievement and great richness and they have a necessity to expand. They're blessed with richness and maybe they're pregnant and they need to expand.

The point is constant, constant flux. Constant dynamic change. People who are important, valued friends to people who are your valued friends, deserve to have the best reasoned, the best informed, the most objective and knowledgeable advice they possibly can get about important emotional decisions. Because they could get into someone's unscrupulous clutches and make a critical decision that could negatively impact a big portion of their lives and finances.

Don't you then owe it to your past clients, who are your valued friends to contact
them and tell them that you care deeply about them and if anybody in their lives is at
these crossroads, you want to encourage them to refer them to you if for nothing more
than just to get your best judgment on something. It doesn't matter whether they
ultimately take advantage of your services. It just matters to you that they at least get the
best take they can on the situation before they make an ill-advised decision.

That awareness of the value people have created, of the friendships and the
investment and the importance of their past clients and others who are important to them
helped a bunch of real estate agents double and triple their sales. And in the process they
had even more fun by making more great contributions to their clients' lives than ever
imaginable. You can do the same.

You need to recognize the impact you have on peoples' lives in the business you
are conducting. What you render, the way you render it, has changed their lives. It has
helped enriched them. It has helped their security.

What service or product are you involved with? Computers? Insurance?
Accounting?

Think about the real estate agent example but substitute your product or service.
Then realize the value you can or do give your clients.

If you think you don't have a client who you sell to, think again. You have a
department head you report to, employees who report to you, a company V.P., a C.O.O., a C.F.O., a C.E.O. - these are your clients. And when you realize the value you can bring them you'll be rewarded not with sales, but with greater recognition, stature and power within your company. You'll be rewarded with a larger office, higher title, a raise.
Change the way you think about, deal with and speak to your clients. Greet them
on the phone and in person with the same joy, sincerity and enthusiasm that you'd show
any other valued friend.

Respect the importance of their time, their sense of security and their comfort.
Don't make them wait too long on “hold” or in your waiting room or at their home.
Provide for their comfort. That may mean coffee and beverages, a comfortable, clean
setting complete with fresh, interesting reading material. It may mean a pleasing
shopping environment and enough help on hand for a client to get the most out of their
buying experience with you.

It means pitching in when a client's in trouble - like the FedEx dispatcher who
got a frantic call from a tearful bride-to-be whose gown had been misrouted the day
before her wedding.

The alert dispatcher located the gown in a distant city and had it flown to the
distraught client's city by private plane. The gown arrived in time for the young woman
to wear it at her wedding.

The rescue effort was expensive, but it became the talk of the wedding reception -
and no doubt caused many executives attending the ceremony to start using FedEx.
It means following up after the sale - not just to patronize but to contribute,
acknowledge and assure that client that you care about them.

It means thinking about the client as more than just a checkbook. It means seeing
him or her as a valued business partner, someone whose well-being and success is
directly tied to your own.

HUMAN NATURE

Mastering the Strategy of Prominence is really the understanding of human
nature. Start by considering yourself and how you go about making decisions. Naturally,
you want to feel good about yourself and the decisions you make - in business or just in
every day life. You want to look smart and feel like you've done the best you can. But
sometimes you're just not sure what the right decision is. So your first instinct is to take
less action because you're afraid to take the wrong action, and you don't want to look
dumb.

What you look for in those situations is a trusted friend. A confidant. Someone
you can feel comfortable asking advice from because you know he or she has your best
interests at heart and will give you advice that will benefit you, not them.

Now, consider that everyone you sell to, individuals or corporations, reacts in
exactly the same way. Because they are all, first and foremost, human beings. And, as
such, they will always exhibit human behavior. Just like you.

Your job therefore, is to understand and acknowledge the reality of human nature
in your clients. Accept that people will work harder not to look foolish than they will
work to gain an advantage. Become their trusted advisor, their friend. Treat them the
same way you would want to be treated.

A successful business starts not with just a great idea or product. Rather, it starts
with the desire to provide a solution to another's problem. In doing so you enrich your
own life and the lives of those around you, your family and employees or employers, by
enriching the lives of your clients.

You need to understand that you have a higher purpose for being in business than
simply making money. Your purpose must be understanding what you can do to help
solve the problems of others and finding ways to do it. And unless you understand that
higher purpose, you can't begin to take advantage of your potential.

With that understanding, however, comes the realization that you can have an
impact on people. That you can produce a positive response. A positive action. A
positive result.

Think back to my session with the realtors. They came to the realization that they
don't simply sell houses. They enhance their clients' lives. And in doing so, they
enhance their own lives, as well as those of their families and colleagues. Now that's a
positive result. For everybody.

The beauty of the Strategy of Prominence is that it applies to any business,
whether you're selling life insurance or you own a hardware store. The steps you must
take always remain the same. You must first identify what your client really needs, even
if your client doesn't recognize what it is he/she needs. The client may think that a
particular item is what he/she is searching for but if you probe a bit you might see that an
entirely different solution will solve your client's problem, maybe even a less expensive
solution. Now you have become more than a salesperson. You've become an advisor.
You've begun the process of winning trust and, ultimately additional business from your
client.

This approach to business may seem pretty obvious to you. But you'd be amazed
at how few people in business understand this very basic concept. It's hard for them to
understand that what they really are selling is solutions to problems, not merchandise.
And it's hard for them to see that selling a person what he/she needs versus what they
have to sell will set them apart from the pack and result in repeat business and referral
business.

I guarantee that when you practice the Strategy of Prominence the rewards you
will accumulate will astonish you. And I don't mean just financial rewards. There is no
question that you will generate more money than you ever imagined when you start
putting your client's needs first. But it won't stop there.

Consider how you will feel about yourself and your business when you become a
trusted advisor to your clients. I submit that your business, your life's investment, the
body of your work, will stand for something wonderful. You will have created value and
for yourself and your family. You will have provided livelihood and sustenance to your
employees. And not only will you have enriched your own life materially beyond
anything you ever thought possible, but you will have enriched your life because you will
recognize the worth of your endeavor.

ACTION STEPS

Think about the different people you deal with, sell your products or
services to, buy from, and work with. Think about them one at a time. Then
focus on what that person's real need in dealing with you is. What results are
they truly after? What's the impact your action, product, service or function has
on their career, job, future, well-being, etc. How have you impacted their quality
of life in the past? What's it meant in terms of their business or personal success?
How much more could you do to improve your impact on that result? Think
about their hopes, dreams, fears, interests, families, goal and dependency or trust
in you.

Realize these people are all your friends. Trusted and trusting friends.
You've built a deep connection with them. Find something about them you can
get even more enthusiastic and excited about. Then try a little test. Let your
renewed passion and purpose work for you and them. Connecting (in person, by
letter, e-mail or fax) more compassionately, respectfully and loyally to that
person. Then see what a dramatic difference it makes in the way they respond to
you.