If you look up the word value in the dictionary, you will find many definitions. There is a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged. That’s one kind of value and certainly important, especially in our business. Another definition of value is the relative worth or importance of something. As humans, we are naturally need-meeting animals. We meet our own needs and if we are doing a good job, we meet the needs of our significant others, our children, our customers and our managers.
It is good to meet the needs of others. It feels good, it makes people see us as valuable, it helps us build professional successes and we get our own needs met in the process. We feel valued, loved, important, worthy, needed, capable and more. Every person we interact with regularly we build a relationship with. Those on the job relationships may not be as important as our family relationships, but they still count. In any relationship, the most single most important thing we can do is figure out what the other person values. If we don’t know this, we don’t know how to meet the other’s needs.
For example, say it is your wife’s birthday and you buy her an expensive bracelet and extravagant flowers, but come home late that evening and rush through dinner. What if what she really values is time spent together and your personal attention? That pricey gift won’t mean very much. Or what if you reward an employee who is doing well with a gift card to a dinner out, but what he really wanted was to leave a little early that day to see his kid’s baseball game? And if you had just known how important it was to him, you would have happily accommodated him. People have different currency or the things they value. Some people want recognition, respect and your attention. Others may place a higher value on time, connections and gratitude. While others still may most appreciate security, a financial reward or a gift.
When you find out what someone values most, you can give it to that person and become valued in turn. I happen to be in the cleaning business and our company works with many Property, Building, and Facility Managers. Our most successful employees find out what the individual customers value and deliver it. This goes well beyond just delivering service, that part is easy. It is how we deliver service and emphasize what the customer sees as valuable. It may be that an employee gives a personal cell phone number to the customer so they can call them direct at anytime with questions whether or not that employee is working. In most cases, the customer will never call them after hours but knowing they can may make the individual feel important, trusted and special.
Creating value is a keystone in making life better because the ripple effect is so powerful. When you make people feel good, they want to make you feel good too. Not only does it make other peoples lives better, it can give us a sense of purpose and direction. It feels really good to be valued by others. It feels good to get the gift you know your wife will cherish or go the extra mile for your customer in a way that makes you well thought of. We are all put on this earth with for a specific purpose. Providing value to other people helps us explore and find that purpose. How do you figure out what people value? Some people are very good at conveying to you what they find most important, others may not be. Pay attention to what a person seems to react most strongly to and ask a lot of questions.
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