I had a few topics on growth, M&A and building enterprise value that I wanted to write about this week but then I thought of doing a short yet powerful one on a brilliant quote.

I simply love this quote (as there is so much depth and learning in this one for all of us) and I am sticking my neck out that you will too.

Elbert Hubbard wrote the gem – “One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men/women. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man/woman.”

Read it again and Digest it for a few minutes.

It is so powerful and connects very well to the Experience Commerce posts that I have been writing the last few weeks.

What do you think?

How does this quote apply to the work we do?

Coming back to my thoughts – While we live in a digital world, the reality is that no machine can replace the work of one extraordinary man/woman. The ability to deliver such a transformative experience is “Competitive Advantage” like no other. Forget catching up with you, your competition will not even understand what you do and how you do. This is because they all think they do it too.

I can confidently say that you would have come across such extraordinary people in every profession or sphere of work. One of the previous posts that I wrote was about how a particular Sanitizer Lady was creating memorable experiences on an Alaskan Cruise Ship. Read this interesting post as a tribute to Anne (the Sanitizer Lady).

Like I have written earlier, many of these things do not even cost Money.

Some of them in our profession are as follows:

1. A Warm and Genuine Smile
2. Inviting the Spouse of a prospective client to a meeting
3. Creating an element of surprise. Most people get into a meeting with a financial professional assuming a certain format of the meeting. They expect people to pitch to them. What do you think happens when you do not pitch? You have delivered an element of surprise. Remember this meeting is about them. It is Not about You. If you can help them learn about themselves in a 60-minute meeting with you, it is truly a game changing experience
4. Asking Great Questions
5. Listening Attentively without being in a rush to demonstrate how great you or your firm are
6. Demonstrating Genuine Care and empathy (This is easier said than done). I am not giving you answers here but encouraging you to think. The right prospects for whom care is truly important will feel this
7. Doing what you say you are going to do. This is so powerful that if you truly do this, you are already ahead of 95% of the professionals.

What are some of the others that come to your mind?

On the subject of reflections, another quote from Elbert Hubbard that I enjoyed and is absolutely relevant for us and the work we do :

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”

Are you making this mistake?

As always, I would love to hear from you.