At any given moment in our life, we're provided the opportunity to make an impression.  What kind of
impression are YOU making?    

When we meet people, what kind of impression are we leaving on them?  How about in business? 

I am Impressed Beyond Measure

I was in Arizona this past weekend conducting a Super Saturday Event for Life Max International.
I took a lunch break with two of the top earners in the company, Kimmy Everett, who I recently featured in
my new Network Marketing Mastery Interview Series and her sister Lisa.   

We sat down at Blancos Tacos to have a quick bite.  Our server came up with a smile and asked us what we'd like to drink.  My response was, “I'd like a Diet Coke please.”  Her response was, “Would Diet Pepsi be o.k?”

I responded with, “I prefer Diet Coke.  Can I just have a glass of water instead?”  She finished taking our
drink order and came back a couple minutes later with my water and what my two friends were drinking
and took our food order. 

A couple minutes later I see our server walking back in to the restaurant.  She then came over to our table
with a glass of ice and a BOTTLE of Diet Coke! 

I WAS IMPRESSED BEYOND MEASURE.  So much so that I haven't been able to stop talking about that
experience for nearly three days!  She went to a store, BOUGHT me a Diet Coke and delivered it to my
table!  I was FLOORED! 

Of course, that started a round of compliments on her exquisite service and her going the extra mile.  I asked her what her name was and filled her with as many compliments as I possibly could.  Does the manager even know?  She does now!  I asked our server for the manager's card.

The moment I returned back to the hotel to do the second part of my training, I opened up my laptop and
emailed her manager about how utterly impressed I was with the service we received.  Within minutes,
the manager of the restaurant replied back to me thanking ME for sending the email.  She told me that she
printed out the email and posted it in the server area for all of the other server's to see what kind of
lasting impression that going the extra mile can make on customers. 

How do you think I felt from that experience?  How do you think the server feels about that experience
and the fact that I also took the time (only minutes) to write a letter to her manager?

Am I more or less likely to return to that restaurant as a result of my experience? 

More importantly, what lessons can we ALL learn from this experience both in and out of our business?

How YOU Can Make a Positive, Lasting Impression

It's easy to make an impression.  The key is to make a positive one.  Whatever you do, your objective is
to leave people feeling better as a result of their experience with you, not the opposite. 

As a network marketing distributor, there are SEVERAL ways to make a lasting impression.  Remember
this, always do your BEST to under-promise and over-deliver on someone's expectations. 

Here's just a few tips on leaving an impression upon someone that they'll likely never forget:

1. Recognize even the smallest of accomplishments.  When a new rep does something even as
   small as making their first call, recognize it, and praise them for it.
2. Praise your people both publicly and privately.  It's been said that people with “work for a
   living, but die for recognition.”  Remember to praise your people publicly for what they are doing,
   large or small.  They'll remember it, and work harder because of it.  
3. Do what you say.  If you say you're going to do something, do it, and do it in a timely manner.  You
   don't want people thinking that you're a flake.  If you say you're going to do something like call them
   back tomorrow at 5pm, then guess what?  You call them back at 5pm. 
4. Do more than you say.  If you say you're going to do something, do a little more.  For example,
   you'll see me do this in seminars.  I may get on stage and say “I'm going to give you 4 of my best
   strategies for success”, but instead I give them 5 or 6.  I have done two things here, given more than
   I said I was going to give and two, under-promised and over-delivered. 
5. Think outside of the box.  Sometimes we think that we must operate within certain parameters, and
   that we're not supposed to go outside of those parameters.  Wrong!  Whenever you can, do
   WHATEVER you can to make someone feel special, even IF it is something that wouldn't be considered
   the “norm”.  
6. Be on time.  I know this may sound simple and trivial, but again, nobody likes a flake.  I had a friend,
   who I will no longer call a friend, because I chose to separate myself from him.  Why?  He was
   chronically late for everything we were to do together.  His actions showed me that he really didn't
   care, so I simply didn't care to be friends with him any longer. 

There are lots of ways we as humans and as independent, free-thinking entrepreneurs can do things to
make people feel special.  Where would your business be if you ALWAYS went the extra mile?  

Let's Get a Job for a Just a Quick Second 

I haven't had one for a very long time, but imagine this.  If you were working in an employed environment,
now or sometime in the past, think of your boss.  Perhaps you had a boss that was SO COOL, so awesome,
so NICE, so SWEET and THOUGHTFUL, that you'd do just about anything for him or her, just because
of the way he/she treated you. 

Let's reverse it.  Perhaps you had one of “those” bosses, someone who was a complete ass, and someone
who treated you so horrifically, that no matter WHAT they asked of you, the last thing you wanted to do
was do even the minimums that they requested. 

Both employees and entrepreneurs will go the extra mile when they know they'll be remembered and
rewarded for it, even if it is something as simple as a “Thank you for all your hard work.  I really appreciate
how much effort you've been putting into this project and just wanted to let you know that it isn't going
unnoticed.” 

Money doesn't always have to be the reward.  In fact, many people are more motivated by being recognized
rather than being financially compensated. 

Why I Quit a Company and Stopped Producing

About ten years ago, I was one of 52 people in a leadership meeting down in Florida.  I had one of the
largest groups in the company.  The night before our leadership retreat, we had a business opportunity
meeting.  One very disrespectful leader was talking during that presentation.  Sure…he had seen it a
thousand times, and was likely bored with sitting in on yet another biz opp meeting.  However, he made a
stupid decision and talked while sitting in the audience, loud enough for others to hear. 

The next morning, the President of our company YELLED at every single person in that room about the
subject of being DISRESPECTFUL.  It was disrespectful.  But, it was ONE person.  I was shocked, especially,
as I looked at the face of a 67 year old woman in my group who was one of my biggest leaders and one of
the sweetest women I have ever met in my entire life.  She was done.  So was I.  The result of that poor
decision by the President of that company was catastrophic.  Virtually EVERY leader stopped working.
I never sponsored another person into that company again.  I was done.  And…so was the company.  They
never recovered.   

If you own a company, I have only one perspective to give.  I'm a distributor at heart.  It's all I've ever done.
The most important thing that matters is your reps.  Yes…your employees matter, but it is the Independent
Reps in the field that drive revenue.  They are priority number one.  Not priority two…one.   

While I realize no company is perfect and no one will ever be, you WANT your distributors to be EAGER
to go to work for you, to go to the “ends of the earth” to passionately and confidently perpetuate the message that you have to offer. 

One place we never, NONE of us want to fall short of, is recognizing our people.  Pay them on time and
recognize even the smallest of accomplishments. 

One thing that all of us as parents, friends, lovers, company owners, leaders, and just as human beings in
general should be doing to motivate and inspire people to do even more and to WANT to do an even
better job at whatever it is they're doing: 

• Go the extra mile whenever we can. 
• NEVER say something or promise something that we can't deliver on. 
• Always recognize our people. 
• Keep our promises. 

Our word is the only thing we have.  Keep it.  Make it your life's mission to be a man, woman, company or
organization that ALWAYS keeps your word. 

The result of that mission? 

People will be stumbling all over themselves to follow you or be with you.  And in OUR business, where
success is oftentimes defined by the numbers of enthusiastic followers we have, it's a worthy mission,
don't you think?