Table Of ContentThe 1% Factor
The Art and Science of Business Growth
Copyright Michael Worthington 2009
PO Box 22 Ballajura Western Australia 6000
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Itʼs only 1% to Brilliance"4
Customer who?"11
Something Unique"23
Do you value value?"33
Selling It with Style"51
Selling Styles"56
Theatrical style!56
Consultant Style!63
Representative Style!69
Order Taker Style!73
Leadership that Sells"79
Embedding A Virtual Experience"86
The Story-Selling Method"89
Stop selling and"97
Start telling a ... story"97
The Third Party Story-Selling Method"110
Presentation Story-Selling Method"115
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It’s only 1% to Brilliance
I think everyone has had moments in life he or she
can point to, when something occurred that had a major
impact. It’s one of those experiences that when you look
back you can say ‘That had an impact on me, that
changed my life or that was when I learnt about...’.
I had one of those experiences when I was young
and the reason it occurred was that even as a kid I was
ultra competitive. Winning was everything to me.
When I was twenty years old, I and a few friends
arranged to have a game of golf. Now as I said, I am a
competitive person by nature as most business men
proudly are, and so, friendly game or not, I was going to
win.
I had not played golf since I was a child with Dad, so
some serious practice was called for. At 8.00am on a
Wednesday morning I set off to the local golf course, to
the driving range, for some much needed practice.
I showed up, all excited, with my clubs in the boot of
the car, and visions of playing like ‘The Great White
Shark’. I could see my victory: my ball sailing effortlessly
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through the air, strolling leisurely along with my friends,
relaxed, laughing and having a great time - winning!
However, like most people who believe they can achieve
an easy win I was blind to the approaching drama.
I lined up on the driving range, carefully pushing my
tee in the ground, gently placing my ball on top and
selecting my driver. Looking ever so much the
professional, I lined up and unleashed an awesome
swing. There it went, sailing high down the fairway. Then
to my dismay it started bending, swinging off to the right.
That little ball had a mind of its own and it sailed happily
off into the trees.
Well, that was my first shot, I told myself, couldn’t
expect to get it right the first time. So on with the next
ball. High, long and off to the right it sailed, into the trees
again.
Now wait, I told myself, I can work this out, I’m a
strategist. I can work out a solution. If it is going to the
right, I can stand so as to turn my body more to the left,
and this way it will straighten it out.
I lined up and unleashed a mighty swing, and off it
went, to the left, racing to the trees on that side.
Frustrated, I grabbed the next ball, jammed it on the
tee and gave it an almighty bash. No sailing right or left
this time, in fact no sailing at all. I had hit the top of the
ball and caused it to travel a whole two feet.
Now I was totally frustrated and embarrassed. As I
studied my driver; trying to convince myself and others
that this was the problem, another golfer approached
me, smiling.
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Oh no, just what I needed, I thought. A happy golfer to
share his advice. I smiled as he approached and wished
he would go away.
“Hi there” he waved, “how’s it going?”
What was I meant to say, that I was having a terrible
time, and wanted to be left to wallow in my own mini
breakdown? To be polite I said “Been a while. Just
getting back into the swing of it.”
“Yes,” he said and introduced himself as the club
coach. “You are doing quite well for your first time.”
Was he mad? I thought he was being smart so I
spluttered “Quite well? I’m in the trees. I’m in the water. I
would like to see your version of quite bad!”
He made a simple yet significant comment that has
forever enabled me to succeed. He said, “you know, you
are only about one degree off hitting a lovely straight
shot”.
He held up his hand to stop my protests and pointed
out that when my club head was contacting the ball it
was only one degree off being straight.
He explained that when I was hitting the ball, I was lifting
my head just a fraction early, causing me to hit on top of
the ball or strike the grass first before hitting it. He
laughed and said, “When people do that we call it
gardening.”
He told me that all I needed to do was to stop trying
to drive the ball, stop trying to hit it as hard as I could and
instead focus on just these tiny areas of adjustment. “You
know,” he said, “if you concentrate on these little things,
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these little changes, that ball believe it or not, will go
much further.”
Before he left he pointed out to me an obvious yet
commonly ignored reality. “Small things make the biggest
difference. Try it and enjoy the results.”
You know, he was right. He was so right. All golfers
will tell you the difference between a lovely stroke and a
bad one is usually only one degree. Let me tell you now,
it is the same in business.
The difference in the behaviour of one company
which succeeds and another which fails, and the
difference in one salesman who consistently out-
performs others is usually the difference of only 1%.
So many of us chase the big fixes and put in
massive amounts of effort when the reality is, the
changes needed are subtle, easy and very quick to
make. The key is picking the right ones! And that is what
this book is all about – the 1% factors!
For the last two decades I have been studying what
makes the difference between businesses that thrive and
those that just survive and even fail. I have been
studying those business owners who put in everything
they have and only get by, and those business owners
that don’t seem to be putting in any extra effort or do
anything special, yet are having the time of their lives.
They are literally living it up! They have the cars,
boats, houses, and great holidays whenever they want,
wherever they want. They are living their ultimate dream
life. It’s as if they have the golden touch. To many of us, it
seems so unfair.
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Here we are, working just as hard; we are doing all
the right things, reading all the right books, attending all
the right seminars and even giving our staff incentives.
We tell our clients how important they are to us and
how we will look after them better than anyone else. We
even think we are doing it better than our competitors,
yet they seem to just have more ‘luck’ than us!
What I discovered twenty years ago and what I have
continued to find through owning my own companies and
studying the world’s best business people, is that the
differences between the average business and the
successful one are very little.
The differences are very small, and that is where the
frustration comes in for many. Because the differences
are small we simply miss them. We are told and
convinced that there is some magical big fix, and so
don’t look for the small subtleties.
A small shift in approach and attitude is all it takes to
literally catapult you and your business into a whole
different status.
These differences are as little as 1%.
A 1% change in approach.
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A 1% shift in attitude.
That’s it!
As I said, the reason most people miss this, is because
they are looking for the big fix, looking for major
differences.
For many businesses, attempting the major overhaul
strategy is what sucks the energies out of companies.
Companies that thrive even in tough times are the
ones who know it is the little things that make the
difference - that will differentiate them from their
competitors. It is the little extras that they do for their
customers, that their customers really appreciate and
that keep them coming back. It is these simple 1%
Factors that make the massive results and produce the
rewards which we all want.
I practice these 1% Factors in my own businesses
and after proving their success I am now teaching others
how to apply them in their businesses.
There are many complicated courses available. I’ve
done enough of them to know. Courses which give you
enough material to keep you busy for a year just wading
your way through them. Then there are the ones which
promote the simple path to success and then give you
300 hours of CDs or DVDs to watch or listen to.
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When I started to write this book I was determined to
deliver all the most powerful, relevant and state of the art
techniques and strategies of the most successful
business entrepreneurs in a quick, simple step by step
program. With this strategy in mind, I designed the book
so the ideas, concepts and strategies for each business
area, are contained in their own chapter.
As well as making the concepts easier to digest it
also makes them quick and easy to find when you want
to refer back to them in the future. When you are
reviewing a particular strategy in your business and want
to quickly check something, you are not left searching for
it. You can go straight to the section you want.
This book is really a business program and a
reference book. It has been designed for you to take one
step each day (or each week depending on your time
constraints) and complete the exercises in each chapter.
These exercises have been specially designed to build
on each other.
They are designed to assist you to be able to really
focus on what produces your results and then to be able
to apply what you have learnt immediately.
I am literally the 1% guy and this book will teach you
the 1% Factors that make all the difference.
If you want all the freedoms and fulfilment you know
you deserve, then stick with me, because the results are
truly worth it.
Welcome to the 1% Factors.
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