One time we had a complaint about a project we were doing, so I confronted the person responsible. His response? “A couple of spots, nothing at all.” I could’ve responded by saying, “Oh, if it’s just a couple of spots, then no big deal,” but I didn’t; I said I did not want to give the customer any cause for dissatisfaction. None.
Over 40 years ago, I learned that the little things in life are really the big things. If a person is responsible for something very small, you’ll be able to trust him with something larger. If he’s faithful with that, then yet a larger thing. If a person considers a little thing important, then the bigger things will be even more important to him.
This plays out in many ways.
Over time, a small amount saved every month becomes a large sum. If you’re overweight and you lose a pound a month, you’ll be much slimmer at the end of the year. If every day you tell your spouse, “I love you,” your love will grow stronger and stronger.
On a negative note, if you’re making scrambled eggs and you put in eleven good eggs and one bad egg, you’ll find your breakfast spoiled.
The little things really are the big things.
From a consumer standpoint, I once took a short trip to Florida and reserved a hotel online from a trusted source—and for an exceptional rate. When I got there, it was simply beautiful, exceeding my expectations. But I was ticked off! Why? Because instead of the advertised cleaning rate of $55, they charged me $65, and on top of that they charged me a tax for the cleaning! And when I finally settled in I found there was no internet! A great place, but the little things messed it up.
I have seen it time and again–my company can do a project and everything goes superbly well, except that the job site didn’t get cleaned up well enough. Or the painter made a mess of the sink. Or the edge of a door got missed. Or the glass got scratched. All of a sudden, the customer’s perspective changes and we’re not so good after all. Instead of a 10, we score a 5 or a 6, or a 7. And it’s, “We’re satisfied, but we had some problems that had to be resolved first.”
Imagine your surgeon saying that, or your dentist!
“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards,” Solomon writes. ‘It’s those darn little foxes that ruin everything.’ It’s true, small things matter; you can build something beautiful, and you can score a 99% in customer satisfaction, but if a ‘fox’ is loose and that 1% isn’t attended to, you may well find your ‘vineyard’ ruined.
– T.L. Hart
