Creating “Magic Moments” for Others Leads to New Business for You

Let me tell you a little story that illustrates a proven strategy that I use all the time. If you use it, I guarantee it will lead to amazing new revenue opportunities for you.

A few months ago, I was in Las Vegas and stayed at the Bellagio hotel. One morning, about 5:00 a.m., I went down to the gym to work out – only to find that it wasn’t yet open. I turned to the closest employee and asked her where I could sit down to get some work done while I waited.

She told me there was a restaurant nearby, and said she was sorry more places weren’t available at that early hour. Because I always like to find out who I’m speaking with, I asked her name. Marilyn Thompson was her reply.

Since I was there scouting locations for my next Speaker Author Networking Group (SANG) meeting, I didn’t let this opportunity go by to discover reasons why I should choose the Bellagio for my event instead of the Wynn or Caesar’s Palace or any of the other fabulous Vegas hotels.

So I asked Marilyn what made the Bellagio special. What happened next absolutely knocked my socks off. She told me about its five-star restaurants, about its many other amenities, its high level of customer service… on and on she went about why I might want to select the Bellagio. She concluded by assuring me my guests would have a fantastic experience there.

I was so impressed, I asked her for the name of the Bellagio’s CEO. I wanted to send him a note to let him know what a great job she was doing on behalf of his hotel.

I do things like that all the time, because I’m a big believer in creating “magic moments” for others. When you create magic moments for others, it has a ripple effect. Not only do you feel good, they feel good. And they pass on that good feeling.

I then asked Marilyn what she did at the hotel. (She was wearing a red suit, and I couldn’t place her position from that.) She told me she was the overnight security guard.

No more than 30 seconds later, a gentleman wearing gym clothes appeared and unlocked the door to the gym. Marilyn whispered, “That’s Jim Murren!” I had no idea who Jim Murren was, but because Marilyn was so excited when she saw him, I assumed he was an influential person at the hotel.

Well, I called out to him and asked him to come over. He did, and I proceeded to tell him what a wonderful employee he had in Marilyn and how she was a great asset to the Bellagio.

He replied that they prided themselves on having employees like Marilyn. “It’s what makes the Bellagio so great,” he said. He then excused himself and went into the gym.

I thanked Marilyn and headed to the gym myself. But first, I took a second to Google Jim Murren. I was stunned.

Turned out, he is the CEO of MGM. The CEO of the Bellagio actually reports to him. In fact, the CEOs of all the hotels in the MGM chain report to him, including the Mirage, MGM Grande, Mandalay Bay, and New York New York.

Remember, just moments before I had asked Marilyn who the CEO of the Bellagio was so I could tell him what a great job she was doing. Well, I had done even better. I had told the CEO of the entire chain – face to face!

A few weeks after my departure from Las Vegas, I received an e-mail from Marilyn. She reminded me of our meeting and took the initiative to personally invite me back to the hotel.

Needless to say, when I read MGM’s most recent annual report I was not surprised to find that the Bellagio is doing just fine, operating at something like 96 percent occupancy. (And this is a hotel with very high room rates.) With the level of customer service provided by employees like Marilyn, what else could you expect?

Here’s my question to you. Do you have Marilyn Thompsons in your company – employees who are so enthusiastic and passionate about the company that they’d take the time to send an e-mail to a prospective client?

If not, you can make it happen, starting today, by creating magic moments for the people who work with you or for you. Make them feel special. Call them by their first name. Tell them what a great job they’re doing. Before long, you’ll have a business culture that both delivers and receives magic moments.

Remember the ripple effect. It will be only a matter of time before you end up connecting with the kind of people who can open up huge opportunities for you and your company.

This is just one of the proven strategies you can use to differentiate yourself from your competition and drive more business growth in less time.

I look forward to sharing more relationship-building – and, ultimately, cash-generating – strategies with you at ETR’s Bootcamp in November. And with such forward-thinking business builders as Rich Schefren, Joe Polish, Mike Koenigs, Clayton Makepeace, Howie Jacobson, and Chris Chickering joining me on the panel… I expect to make some life-changing connections myself.

Get all the details right here. But hurry. I just found out that the $600 Early Bird discount ends on Monday.

[Ed. Note: Larry Benet, known as “The Connector to Billionaires and Millionaires,” is the co-founder of the Speakers and Authors Networking Group (SANG), a high-end networking organization for some of the top speakers and authors in the world. To learn how you can build relationships with anyone – and recession-proof your income – visit www.larrybenet.com for free videos and info that could change your life.]