How often do you accept less than you deserve?
When you receive poor service and marginal tasting food in a restaurant, I’m betting you think twice before going there to dine again?
Why? Because you deserve to have great service and great food, and you CAN have it elsewhere if that restaurant is not going to deliver it.
So . . . are you OK with receiving less as long as you’re paying less?
80% of the restaurants deliver “average” service and mediocre food and can survive doing so as long as they charge accordingly.
Many of them fail . . . The life expectancy of the best restaurant concepts is seldom more than 10 years, and most fail within 2-5 years.
The same is true for most businesses.
What differentiates the businesses that beat these odds?
What are the 20% successful business owners doing that the others don’t “get”?
Could it be that they refuse to accept the “something is better than nothing” mentality?
These high performers don’t cater to the average customers who “settle” for whatever they receive . . . because it’s “something” and not “nothing.”
While I may sound like I’m talking in circles, I do have a point.
Why settle?
Let’s flip the coin and talk for a minute about YOUR business.
How’s the quality of your customers and clients?
Do they love and respect you?
Are they Loyal?
Do they refer their friends and family and work associates to you?
Are they more than happy to pay your full fee in return for which you deliver stellar service?
The law of the Vital Few – Pareto Distribution suggests that 80% of your customers are “average” and may not appreciate your talents enough to give you the honor you deserve. This lack of appreciation often manifests in the form of a demand for or negotiation of a reduction in your fee.
You, then, have a choice . . . do you succumb and adopt the mentality that something is better than nothing OR do you stand your ground and give them the choice to pay your full fee or work with someone else?
Adopting this mentality is a dangerous, cancerous decision because it fosters an increasing inclination to provide less service for less pay . . . which compromises your own standards.
Next thing ya know, you’ve become less relevant and more average.
This leaves you in a quandary . . . You ALWAYS want to deliver full service, and How is this fair to your BEST clients who are ecstatic to pay your full fee?
In everything we do, we have this choice . . . how much “average 80%” will we tolerate?
As we are dealing with these 80% folks, how many 20% Vital Few customers are we under-serving?
Wouldn’t life be a LOT easier for us if we were to focus ONLY on serving our Vital Few customers and inviting the others to work with someone else?
So . . . Assuming the answer is: “YES!” then the first step is to gain some clarity on WHO these Vital Few folks are . . . so we can build our lead generation such that it attracts MORE of them and fewer of the others.
“Something” is not always better than “nothing.”
Sometimes scary but oh so true!
Wednesday February 17, 2016 from 10-Noon – in Nashville, TN – I’m inviting anyone who cares to come to explore in depth this “Law of the Vital Few” (Pareto Principle).
I founded Pareto Realty on this principle and am a frequent noticer of “Vital Few” and “Trivial Many” manifestations all around me.
I hope you’ll join us for this first monthly learning experiment.
Til then – CHEERS!
Residential Real Estate Principal Broker and Founder of Pareto Realty, LLC. Creating the quintessential real estate firm with emphasis on "Live, Work, & Play" balance . . . and a true Performance Oriented environment for Real Estate Professionals. Serving the Real estate needs of Home Buyers and Sellers in Middle Tennessee.
