Bravo! What do you do for an encore?

An encore is: an extra or repeated performance; usually given in response to audience demand  Reference: wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

I would also add it is immediate – you don’t go to a performance and then have the encore the next day.  The audience is so happy with the experience they don’t want it to end. It is an EXTRA or REPEATED performance. So it may not even be something different but something they already did!

Can you imagine what would happen if you thought of your work as a performance and at the end, after a job well done, you gave an encore?  Imagine that story in the meeting the next day.  “We finished the whole process and just before we hung up, he said…” or “And just as she was about to leave, she…” What?  What would you have to do as an encore?

Now there are a bunch of people who will start talking about expectations being set and then the next time you have to produce more to satisfy your customer. Really?  I don’t remember the last time I heard someone at a concert say, “no encore – I want my money back!”.  An encore is something extra because the audience liked the performance so much. So let’s not get caught up in expectations, and let’s not get off on a tangent about how nice it would be to have a compay provide the service they promised in the first place…. Oh – sorry.

No, instead, think about this. Your customer needs a service you provide and you provide it. They are happy, you are happy, everyone is great. What could you pull out of  that process and do it again or add to it to create the encore?  And you could even say, “and now for an encore I will…” (I’m a big believer in stating things so there are no assumptions – see?).  So what will you do for an encore?