Arriving home from school, the little girl was deep in thought. The frustration with the day was written all over her face.
As she found a listening ear, the story began to unfold. One of her 4th Grade classmates had an opposing view on an important subject. By explaining the two beliefs, the little girl seemed to find the answer to her dilemma.
With acceptance in her voice, she understood and announced, “People are just on different levels!”
All natural growth occurs through levels of maturation. Whether children into adults, seedlings into plants, or entrepreneurs into companies, there is a logical order: from the bottom, up; and, from the inside, out.
This hierarchy of levels begins with a foundation. All that follows is supported from that beginning.
After thirty years in business and within a span of seven days, I was reminded of the “Levels”.
Two stories, two story-tellers, two very different views, about one CPA:
Level 1:
“A bit of constructive criticism for future successful customer interaction: Don’t assume that your potential clients know exactly what your product is.
You are good at forwarding prepared documents. Might I suggest a single page with bullet points of the steps and actions that your products entail. I wouldn’t purchase a floor machine unless I knew what the pad pressure delivered to the scrubbing pads is, as the wrong machine may deliver undesired results or reduce productivity.
I would want to see a specifications sheet, just as I asked many time from you of your products.”
Level 2:
“I am a young man who has decided to come back to my hometown to manage and run our family ranch. I worked as a counselor for the last 4 years and was very content with my life and career.
As life happens, due to circumstances, I was brought back to my childhood roots and knew that my family needed me. I was not key on the idea at first but then I was introduced to our family’s accountant and he helped me look at the country life in a whole different way.
Since I have known Kim the last four years he has helped me and my family rebuild our financial status. We have purchased more efficient machinery, doubled our commercial Angus line of beef, and in the works is a pivot sprinkler system.
I remember when I met Kim he told me “You Dream it I will help bring your dream to reality”. He has been so helpful in every aspect a person could imagine, very knowledgeable, very dependable and you can access him anytime.
Kim has helped me grow into a business orientated person. He has the tools if you have the ambition and drive. Thanks Kim..”
How can two views about one person be so different?!
Answer: The young man at Level 1 has a Product based view; the young entrepreneur at Level 2 has a Service based view.
The mentality of some people is so limited that they are Product bound; unless they can understand the “tangible”, any inherent benefit is limited. Other people think at higher levels; they acknowledge and want the perceived value from the “intangible” of quality Service.
Gravity, for example, is a very powerful and valuable intangible. It is a real force to the extent of its Cause-and-Effect results. We have a choice to recognize its value by living within the reality of its influence. Depending on the height of the object on which they stand, those who choose to ignore this intangible presence might only get to do so once.
Individually, we are unique. As individuals, we will always perceive the world differently. The secret to success is beyond the labels of levels. It is discovered by enlightening, empowering, and encouraging the desires of People to grow and build.
We learn by doing and the fun is in the doing. As we, individually, choose our next step on the journey to a higher level, let’s have fun learning!
Building Dynamic Relationships 