Last month I had the opportunity of purchasing a very mature dwarf maple from a home in our neighbouring village.
It seemed that the fully grown tree had outgrown its place in this home, and because of its maturity, the owner decided to test the market and see whether someone would be willing to dig the tree up and transplant it to their place [for a fee].
Enter Dr. Dave…
At my age, this seemed like an opportunity too good to refuse.
I knew that for me to plant a younger version of one of these trees and to wait and watch it grow might take more years than the number that The Good Lord had intended for me to have remaining….
I inspected the tree.
The owner told me that he had previously [and successfully] moved the tree only a couple of metres single handedly only two years earlier.
He agreed with my suggestion that two able-bodied men should be able to dig up the tree root bulb, and lift the tree onto my ute, and then remove the tree from the ute at my home and plant it in a pre-dug hole.
Sometimes reality does not resemble fantasy.
On the day of transplantation…
After two and a half hours of serious digging, my friend Nick and I hadn’t even budged the tree.
The weather was cold, and it was raining, and it was looking like we’d messed up big time with our time estimation.
In desperation I phoned a local excavator [whose advert I had seen in the local community news bulletin].
It was 4:30pm and it was still drizzling with rain.
To my surprise, the guy with the excavator said he’d be happy to come out and excavate the tree from its location, and lift it onto the ute.
And true to his word, he did just that.
[Let’s call him Ross].
Ross appeared, and in a time space that was less than the time it took for him to get the digger off his truck, Ross had the tree freed from the front yard of this house, and lifted up onto the ute.
And that’s exactly what Ross said he would do.
Ross also then followed me and my ute home to Burrawang, and with his excavator, lifted the tree off the ute and into the hole that had been previously prepared in waiting for the dwarf maple.
Above and beyond…
The new home for the dwarf maple had a different aspect compared to its previous home. In its previous home the maple received sunshine from the east and the north for most of the day, but in Burrawang, it was being planted near to the house in an area where northerly sun may not be readily available.
So we wanted to make sure that we oriented the tree in a way to take advantage of its previous growth, and display it in all its glory.
Once Ross had placed the tree into its hole, Ross then helped Jayne and me position its alignment for best viewing from the two main house windows nearby, before helping to fill in the hole and secure the dwarf maple in place.
The thing was…
The thing was that Ross didn’t need to involve himself in the tree’s orientation.
It was late, and he’d already done a fair day’s work elsewhere before I phoned him.
But Ross chose to be invested in the tree’s future, and because of this investment, Ross left an indelible impression of himself on my experience of buying and relocating a very expensive tree.
Ask yourself this…
How can you go above and beyond and leave an indelible impression of your value in the minds of the people you are dealing with?
When you do go Above and Beyond, and you [figuratively] hit the ball out of the park, you most certainly will leave an indelible impression in the minds of those you have impacted.
The choice is yours.
You can be average, and vanilla.
And nobody ever remembers vanilla.
Or you can be extraordinary.
And memorable.
Which behaviour will you pick?
Which behaviour do you wish to be remembered for….
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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