The Economics Of Extra

Posted on 20. Sep, 2009 by Paul Andrew in Leadership, The Leadership Coach™

It’s been said that the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just a little bit “extra”. There’s a coffee house that I’m irrationally loyal to (in fact I’m there even as I write this). It’s not as though the coffee or the service or the surroundings are so drastically different to other purveyors of the bean. No, it’s in the little things that they’ve wooed me into this trance. They’ve got the basics mastered but then they dazzle me with a little bit extra.

Classic example: I walked in recently and the barista proudly held up an extension cord. Strange greeting, but it turns out they’d noticed that my favourite spot by the powerpoint was getting popular, so they bought an extension cord so I could work at my laptop from another table. That’s the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. And what did it cost them? What are the economics of extra? It was probably $6 at the supermarket, but the real point is the value that it communicated to me. I matter. Somebody noticed. Some team member cared enough to remember it next time they were picking up supplies.

That’s value. It’s often like that with being extraordinary… the real cost tends to be less about money, and more about the effort and energy it takes to “go the extra mile”. Yet the rewards are enormous. I’ll drive past five other cafes on the way to this place because they won my loyalty with tokens of effort and energy.

I heard a speaker recently who said, “The gap between where you are and where you want to be is largely determined by the price you’re willing to pay”. It’s a bitter pill to swallow because we’d rather blame something external. But what price am I willing to pay to bridge the gap between where I am and where I want to be? When it comes to my fitness it’s more convenient to blame being busy than to accept that in reality I’m not as fit as I want to be simply because I don’t do those little extra things that fit people do.

So what about you and your team? Imagine you were to take an inventory of all the things you do – every product, service, contact point, and piece of value you add. How many of those would be left if you were to take out everything that could be classified as “ordinary” or standard? If “ordinary” was defined as “doing what’s expected”, “what others do too”, “what you’ve always done”, or “the basics”… what would be left on your list? What is it that you offer that is “extra“ordinary?

It’s time to define extraordinary-

Ask your loyal fans and passionate advocates what they believe your “extra” is.
Ask your team to automate the ordinary so they can give their personal attention to the extraordinary.
Ask yourself what you could do today to invest your best effort and energy into multiplying your extraordinary points of difference.

I’d love to hear your comments and feedback

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Tags: Executive Coach, Executive Coaching, Keynote Speaker, Leadership Coaching, Leadership Development, Leadership Training, Performance Coaching, Team Building

8 Responses to “The Economics Of Extra”

Robin Dickinson

21. Sep, 2009

These are excellent points, Andrew. Well done.

You got me thinking about leader behaviours – actions – that could help differentiate ordinary from extra-ordinary.

E-X-T-R-A Behaviours

(to stimulate creative thinking around adding value to customers beyond what they expect from you)

E = Ease: how could you make things even easier for your customers?

X = X-ray: what are their unmet needs that you can see but other providers can’t?

T = Treasure: what would you do differently if you truly treasured them?

R = Recommend: what are five valuable recommendations you could make?

A = Adapt: how could you adapt your offering to be unique to each customer?

Best,

Robin

[Reply]
Noela Watego

21. Sep, 2009

Extraordinary Leadership equals extrarordinary service. Being willing to serve with an attitude of giving the ” extra mile”. Not just settleling for what will do, but giving that plus more.

[Reply]
Alison

21. Sep, 2009

Hi Paul
Isn’t it amazing that it was really only an extra ‘inch’ in this case to the service provider, but looked like a mile to you the customer. I think this highlights that it really isn’t very difficult, costly or time-consuming to make your customers (and friends/family) feel special and return the gesture with loyalty.

[Reply]
Fred Gillen

21. Sep, 2009

Hi Andrew,

Excellent article, you are right o the money and it is now surprise to me that little bit more effort given by all of us will be seen as a hell of a lot by our clients. Deliver more and stay ahead of the crowd.

Regards

Fred

PS….. can I uses this article in our Newsletters (including your contact details) ?

fred@nittygrittynewsletters.com

[Reply]
Kathrin Luty

21. Sep, 2009

I’ll quote you in my speech tonite! And thanks as well because it comes just when I needed the reminder!

[Reply]
Adriana

22. Sep, 2009

Hi Paul!

Very inspiring! that little bit extra that makes an ordinary life to become passionate living!
Love your presentation last week! you are a great presenter!

[Reply]
craig rains

28. Sep, 2009

Great article Andrew! Such an inspiring point which you framed through some great reflective questions! Very excited to brainstorm at work this week with the perspective of ‘extra.’
I appreciate your efforts to create thought provoking articles.
Thanks!

[Reply]