This quote from J. Willard Marriott came across my desk again this morning:
“It’s the little things that make the big things possible. Only close attention to the fine details of any operation makes the operation first class.”
It’s a quote that appears in front of me around this time every year.
I wrote an article about it three years ago.
Marriott was the founder of The Marriott Corporation. His philosophy, of focusing on the little things, was pinnacle in helping him to create such a fabulous empire in the service industry.
I like this quote because so often in my travels, and in my coachings, I hear business owners and dental practice owners talk about how they are constantly looking out for that ONE SILVER BULLET that will transform their business more than anything else they could think of or anything else that they might have tried in the past.
Off the record, this thought process of looking for the silver bullet while ignoring the glaringly obvious that needs to be done and can be done, is up there beside winning the lottery.
And sadly, a lot of people who talk of and wish to win the lottery never even purchase a lottery ticket.
Which makes it very hard to win, if you don’t even have a ticket.
In reality…
In reality, Marriott is stating the bleedingly obvious.
And that is that your business will achieve massive success if it simply focusses on being one percent better at one hundred things compared to looking for the ONE BIG THING that may or may not hit the mark.
Shep Hyken says that your business doesn’t have to be massively better at everything compared to your competitors. He says that if your business is seriously just one or two percent better at a lot of things [this sort of difference spread across what your business does], then the results for your business will be dramatically better than any of your competitors in your marketplace are achieving.
The choice is yours [as a business owner].
Your business can be slightly better at doing a number of things for your customers, and your customers will notice those differences, and will be impressed.
Or your business can keep on doing the same old things that it’s always been doing, and hoping that your patients don’t notice any lack of innovation on your business’s behalf.
The choice is yours…
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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