Making Yourself More Valuable

The one thing that most people don’t get regarding SUCCESS is that their Skill Level, Knowledge, Self Discipline, People Skills and Time Management are the determining factors in whether they succeed in a significant way or just become another person in the crowd.

I am a huge believer in having amazing work ethic, prolific self-discipline, professional knowledge, incredible people skills and relentless time management discipline. When you put all of these together, success is an inevitability, because they put you in rare air and allow you to separate yourself form virtually all competition. 

One thing I see repeatedly when out to eat or when shopping with the intent to purchase something is how rare it is to find workers who are well trained and professional. The cost to the worker themselves and to the owners of business is incalculable. It’s frightening to imagine how many potential buyers are lost to inept poorly trained personnel in businesses around the country. It’s so incredibly rare to receive professional personal service that when it happens to me, I go out of my way to recognize it first by doing business with that person or business and then letting them and their superiors know how exceptional the service was.

People don’t want to be sold, but they want to buy and they especially want to buy when they receive exceptional professional service. In addition, when they encounter exceptional professional service they want to tell other people about it, which results referrals and repeat business in the future. In my business people often ask me how I get so many referrals. My answer to this question is always the same. Give outrageously fantastic service above and beyond what people expect and you’ll never want for a lack of referrals and repeat business. 

When I was working in the jewelry business, I would tell my people that this may be a temporary job for you but the habits you develop here and the commitment you have for excellence will allow you to move up to a better job in the future. Plus it will endear you to your current employer who won’t want you to leave, but if you do, they will be compelled to give you a glowing recommendation in future job searches. There are so few outstanding employees that if you become one, that habit will allow you to continually grow your career and income. 

When I started my own business, I made a commitment to offer my clients and sales team the absolute best training, coaching and mentoring I could possibly offer. I also worked relentlessly at growing every skill set that I wanted my people to develop so I could maintain a significant value gap between their skills and knowledge and mine. I realized as long as I maintained that gap, clients and teammates would be more motivated to stay connected to me either as a client or an associate. When your clients or team no longer feel that you’re offering value to them, they will automatically begin searching for the value they need somewhere else and that unfortunately is a sure road to mediocrity.

One constant question I would ask myself is “How can I make my clients’ and teammates’ goals and dreams become a reality, what can I do to motivate them to want to stay connected to me?” Ironically, this focus on others success has led to me being able to realize all the goals and dreams I had. How do your clients and teammates feel about the value you add to them? Their behavior will tell the story.

Money Follows Greatness!

Hector LaMarque