Separation from Competition

Thanks to the prompting from wayward drifter and the fact that I have finally caught up on some things that have been keeping me busy, I am writing yet another post.

Hopefully it won't be quite so long between this one and my next. It's not like I ever run out of things to say! I actually pride myself in my political views that are a little to the right of Rush Limbaugh and being just slightly less opinionated than God.

The topic for the evening is separation from the competition.

There are numerous ways to create an environment that makes you more attractive than your competitor. I will try to discuss one or two that have the spiritual parallel that I try to tie in with this blog.

First is the idea that if it is important to the customer... you make it important to you.

What an entertaining thought! The concept that someone may actually want to be treated as if their issues, concerns, goals and definition of a win were important to the people who want them to buy what they're selling.

Not that I have to mention the parallel, but aren't people who have your hopes, concerns, dreams, and goals of your life at heart just plain more pleasant and easy to deal with. Isn't it amazing how someone opens up when they realize that the conversation of the moment is really about them. That you have placed at the forefront of your thinking the simple notion that you are trying to learn more about them and their situation so that you can try to be of help.

I feel like I have done a pretty good job of this in my professional life, but not so great a job in my spiritual life. I genuinely want to be of help to the customer and enjoy the bonus of building friendships and relationships with the customer in a business environment, but must admit that the motivation for my initial contact is purely financial.

I have recently realized the need for a more outreach sensitive, targeted approach to non-business relationships. Many of the same priciples apply. If Christians were more sincere, friendly, and engaging, we would create separation between ourselves and the competition (worldly thought and motive that are possibly no less sincere, but show no recognition of spiritual need).

Another thing that creates separation is to do as many things as possible to simply stand out from the crowd. In business, things such as punctuality, personalized service, attention to detail and doing what we say we will do when we promised to do it help us stand out from the competition.

The best case in point that I can think of is the memory of a recent trip to Las Vegas. I was leaving a casino and couldn't help but notice the beautiful red Ferrari that was parked in front of the casino. There were many cars in front of that building, but I noticed that everyone around the Ferrari couldn't help but stare at the beauty of something that looked like it was going fast even while sitting still.

The car wasn't doing anything special. It wasn't speeding through town at high speed or racing another car, yet it drew immediate attention.

I can't help but wonder how I can do a better job of standing out from the crowd in a good way. Perhaps being more pleasant in interactions with those who are not yet close friends, or kind words in a situation where they are needed, but not necessarily merrited. I would greatly appreciate input on this one.