Caring about people. If I were to sum up The Fred Factor in three words it would be “caring about people.”
In the book The Fred Factor author Mark Sanborn shares his true life story about a man named Fred, a postal professional…also known as a mailman. Fred wasn’t your ordinary mailman though, he cared about the people he served, took his job serious and did it with excellence.
Have you ever been to a restaurant where the waiter’s service went way above and beyond what you normally receive from a waiter? Chances are they are one of the “Fred’s” of our culture, at least according to Mark Sanborn.
Life is full of stress, and we often hear questions like “may I help you?” But it is a monotone voice that tells you the person asking could actually probably care less about if you need help or not. But imagine that same person asking you how they can help you with an enthusiastic manner, a huge smile on their face, and perhaps even going out of the way to make sure your needs are attended to? That is the Fred factor. It takes a normal person and normal circumstances and transforms them into extraordinary people that inspire others and make advocates out of customers.
For many of us who are in the social marketing world we know that social media is about relationships, often though we get lost in the technical, in the “business to business,” etc. Though written before the advent of social media as we know it, the concepts remain. We do business with people, like it or not, its people who buy our products and services, not businesses.
The Fred Factor is a short and easy read, but with a powerful transforming mindset in how people can profit from adjusting their mindset from just another normal person, to a person that is considered to be extraordinary.
Some simple ideas for you to implement as a business and/or social marketer:
-Be excited about your own product! Don’t hide your enthusiasm!
-Go the extra mile! Could be as simple as providing someone you just met with a link to a “how-to video” concerning something on their social media presence.
-Remember you are a person and you are going to be working with a person, not a business. Sure a person may represent a business, but ultimately a person is going to make the decision. As such, give them respect, be helpful, and know what is important to that person.
-Smile. Simple enough, but often forgotten. A smile creates a warm an inviting atmosphere.
-Examine other people who are outstanding around you see what they are doing right that you enjoy. If you enjoy it, others likely will to.
As an example of that last point imagine e-mailing your list about something. We all know that e-mails like that are made to generate your first name to be used in the e-mail to personalize it, but often they feel just like another mass e-mail despite the use of a first name. My good friend Amy Porterfield however changes it up a little bit, and instead of larger e-mail blast saying “Hey there Isaac” in the beginning of her e-mail, she often starts it with “Hi friend.” Wow, she considers those on her list as friends? That’s pretty cool, and much more personal to me than using my name when I know she is sending out a mass e-mail.
So what about you? What is something you someone do recently that made their service extraordinary?
Also be sure to check out The Fred Factor. It’s less than $10 on Amazon and very worth the read.
