Selling yourself again and again becomes far easier when others see how willing you are to go out of your way for them—asked or unasked. If you want to sell yourself successfully put forth a little extra effort. Go out of your way to help someone. The more you reach out by extending yourself, the more people you’ll influence for good. With many salespeople the sale is finished the moment the deal is closed. Nothing is further from the truth. That’s when the sale really begins. A salesperson-customer relationship should be a long-term marriage. That willingness to walk two miles with a customer instead of the one that was required of me is what helped to bring the customer back again and again. No wonder my repeat business was 65 percent. It’s what made me number one. Repeat business is what adds up to success.
Here are Ten Second-Mile Rules for Success. If you stick to these rules you’ll soon see how much better things will go for you, how much better you’ll be at selling yourself.
*If you’re a salesperson, make one extra prospecting call each day. Or two.
*Work a little longer at the office or the shop than you need to. Or, come in an hour earlier.
*Do something useful around the office, or house, or apartment without being asked.
*Give a little gift to someone special even though there’s no occasion for it.
*Give a little gift to someone not-so-special; it may make them feel special for the first time.
*Go out of your way to help someone; just be there when he or she needs you the most.
*Pay a compliment to someone each day.
*Take a load off someone’s back instead of being on someone’s back.
*If you’re a student, put in a little more time with the books. You might learn something.
*Do something for someone, or some cause, without expecting any pay for it.
There are a lot of ways in which we can walk the second mile in life. You can become a Big Brother, you can volunteer your time to a worthy organization, visit someone sick or shut in, bake a pie or cake and take it to your neighbor, or give a pint of blood to the Red Cross…the list could go on and on. Don’t just give your broad shoulder to lean on, give your shoulders. Start walking awhile in the other person’s shoes. No extra effort, no bending over backward to help somebody, no gesture, however small, is ever lost. Extending yourself is the best exercise for the mind and spirit that can be found. In short, get involved with life. Get off your duff and remember this: You can’t walk a second mile sitting down.
