Give them a lagniappe, that little something extra. You might have also heard the phrase “give them the pickle”. Let’s talk about the benefits of give people just a bit more than they expected or paid for.
Episode Transcription [INTRO]
♫ Trenches by Pop Evil ♫
Alex
Welcome to Morning Mindset. A daily dose of practical wit and wisdom with a professional educator & trainer, Amazon best selling author, United States Marine, Television and Radio host, Paul G. Markel. Each episode will focus on positive and productive ways to strengthen your mindset, and help you improve your relationships, career goals, and overall well-being. Please welcome your host; Paul G. Markel.
Professor Paul
Alright guys welcome back to another Morning Mindset, I am your host Paul Markel, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today, whenever that happens to be. I like to think that many of you like to sit & sip your morning coffee while you sit and listen to Morning Mindset, just enough time to- I don’t know how much coffee you drink in the morning, but if it’s 1 cup you could start the Morning Mindset, and about the time you’re done with your coffee, you’re done with Morning Mindset and you’re ready to begin your day.
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Give them a Lagniappe. How many of you, listening to the sound of my voice right now, know what a Lagniappe is? I’ve been very fortunate in my adult life, that I’ve been able to live in many different places in the U.S.A., I’ve lived on the East coast, West coast, North & South. One of the things I learned when I moved to the South, to Biloxi, MS, which is very close to Louisiana and Cajun country, I learned the term Lagniappe, and Lagniappe is actually spelled like Lasagna. It’s L-a-g-n-i-a-p-p-e, and you’re like “What in the freaking world is a Lagniappe?”
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Well how it was explained to me was, a gift or a little something extra and I applied this when I was teaching. One of the many things I’ve done in my life, I’ve been a coach, I’ve been an instructor, and I’ve been a professional platform teacher. I’ve done that for the United States Military, Law Enforcement and so forth, but what I strove to do and what I still strive to do, is whether or not it’s from someone else’s curriculum, like from the ubiquitous 3 Ring Binder, or the PowerPoint presentation, or if I’m teaching from my own curriculum, one I’m teaching myself, I like to give the students something more.
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Something more than is in the 3 ring binder, something more than is in the PowerPoint presentation. Give them that little something extra, give them that Lagniappe. You may have heard this, if you’re a small business owner or an entrepreneur, you may have heard of the phrase “Give them the Pickle” and you’re like… and if you haven’t heard of “Give them the Pickle”, there’s probably a book written right now called “Give ‘em the Pickle”. What does that mean? Well it means you’re giving them something for Free.
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Obviously “Give them the Pickle” means, an actual pickle. But the pickle isn’t always a pickle, sometimes it’s just something they weren’t expecting, that the customer wasn’t expecting. You say “Paul, you were just talking about being an instructor, those people aren’t really customers.” Well in a way they are, if you’re an instructor, a teacher or coach, the people who are taking in your words or viewing your actions, they might be students or team members. But they’re customers, they are buying into what you’re selling.
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So what is that little something extra? I don’t know, you tell me. What are you doing in your life, in your business, are you offering people that little something extra? If you are a Biblical scholar, or even if you’re not, you may remember Christ saying “Go the extra mile. If someone compels you to go a mile, go another.” Going the extra mile, doing that little something extra. You may be thinking, “How can I set myself apart?” If you are in a position, whether you are young or old, whether you are just starting out your career, or whether you’re advanced in your career and you wanna go further!
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You ask yourself “Okay, I’ve done everything. I have done everything my boss has asked me to do. Yet I’m not getting promoted, I’m not getting a raise, I’m not getting anything else.” Have you ever taken the time to do something extra? “They’re not paying me to do extra things!” Laughs Do you want to remain where you are, or do you want to advance? Hmm… and if you are in a position to provide someone with Customer Service, do you give them that extra customer service? Sometimes it can be something really simple.
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For example I had to have a chip fixed in my windshield many years ago, and they came out and fixed the chip in my windshield. They drove out to my workplace, that was great, that was a little something extra. I didn’t have to drive down there during the work day to the window place, they came to my work and replaced the chip in my window. Okay, little something extra. When we were done I signed the receipt, we exchanged credit cards, and he gave me a brand new pen that had one of those little touchscreen tips on it, that you can use on your phone.
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He said “Here you go, thank you for your patronage and we appreciate it.” I was like Wow, that was pretty cool. They came here, they got the job done as fast as they said they were going to, then he gave me this pen with the stylist tip on it as a free gift, and I know it was just a pen, but it was something extra. The whole “Give them the Pickle” actually came from deli owners, who would sell a sandwich & chips, and they’d put the pickle on there and the customers weren’t expecting that, and they’re like “I didn’t ask or pay for a pickle wedge, but I got it anyway!”
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How much did it cost the deli owner to put a pickle wedge on the plate. Not much right? But it was that little something extra that kept the customer happy. So you want to keep your customers happy, you want to advance, you want to keep your Boss happy? Give ‘em a Lagniappe every once in awhile, remember that. Give them a little something extra, and it may turn out very well for you.
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Alright this episode was brought to you by “Team Honey Badger; Raising Fearless Kids in a Cowardly World”. It’s available on Amazon as a paperback or kindle version and it’s by Paul G. Markel, that’s right yours truly! Thank you very much. Thank you for joining me today and I’ll talk to you again, real soon.
[OUTRO]
♫ Trenches by Pop Evil ♫
Alex
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