As many of you know, a few weeks ago our household of two people was thrown into mandatory seven-day isolation.
It was an interesting time.
Nobody “plans” an immediate seven day stay-at-home and don’t-leave-your-house-for-any-reason.
Isolation is one of those things that just gets THRUST upon you.
And you have to comply.
There’s a feeling of helplessness… you’ve been touched on the shoulder by the magic wand of isolation, and comply you must, or pay the fines, and face the possible public humiliation should you choose to disobey, and you then create your own personal hot-spot or super-spreader event.
It’s that same feeling of frustration you feel when you’re playing musical chairs, and the music stops, and suddenly you realise that all the chairs are taken, and you are the last one left standing… you must leave the arena….
Rules are rules.
Fortunately for Jayne and me we always have a well-stocked pantry, but halfway through our week of “home-stay” we realised that we didn’t have enough milk in the refrigerator to get us through our remaining days of isolation.
One of our friends had mentioned to Jayne that should we need anything during our home quarantining, she’d be happy to drop off supplies at our door.
So I sent her a message, asking if she was down in town could she pick us up some milk, as well as a lettuce, and also a small bag of green beans.
She replied, saying she’d be able to do this by midday, and she had a question about our preference for lettuce.
So here’s what happened…
Around midday, our friend sent me an SMS saying:
“Groceries on the verandah”
And when I went out to collect them, here’s what I discovered:
On the verandah was a large cardboard box and inside the box was our milk, and our lettuce, and our beans.
But also inside the box was a bottle of wine, some chocolate, some delicious cheese, a loaf of fresh sourdough bread, some Kiwiberries, and some trout.
WOW!
The package also included a hand-written note explaining the “extras” were to cheer Jayne and me up, and wishing us to “Get well soon.”
Jayne and I were overwhelmed by this kind act from our friend who had definitely gone ABOVE AND BEYOND in answering our call for assistance.
Her gift was very much appreciated.
Here’s my question to you…
When an opportunity arises or presents itself to you, in life, and in business, are you the kind of person who identifies your chance to EXCEED EXPECTATIONS without having to be asked to?
It’s not a difficult thing to do, or be able to do, but it is a very rare thing to do.
And that’s why ABOVE AND BEYOND MOMENTS are so impactful and so memorable.
And remembered for a long time.
Easy to do. And easy not to do.
You choose….
PS. Thank you to our other friends who also reached out with offers of assistance. We made it through our seven days….
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Dr. David Moffet BDS FPFA CSP is a certified CX Experience coach. David works with his wife Jayne Bandy to help SME businesses improve their Customer Service Systems to create memorable World Class experiences for their valued clients and customers. Click here to find out how David and Jayne can help your business