Matt Levenhagen Blog Post (reprinted with permission):

Your inconvenience and pain can provide you with Unlimited Power! (Sorry… Anthony Robbins Spin:)

Seriously though… You’ve heard people say to go the extra mile. It can do great things for you. Your customers will respect you more. Your boss might notice your efforts and promote you. You get the good feeling knowing you did a 110%. Among other things.

You can also receive a phone call, e-mail or letter from a past customer during the holidays! That’s what happened to me last night. I received a phone call…

Here’s some background. Back in November and December of 2002 I was working on the last project of the year. The last large one anyway.

I had received this project that summer, but do to some delays I couldn’t begin work until November. Now I’m in Wisconsin and winter is upon us at this time of year. It was getting chilly.

The original project was going to be a simple roof repair on an addition on the back of a large business. There was some obvious rotten wood. It was an old building that was being restored to serve as a large Barber Shop with apartments above. Big Place.

What ended up happening when we gutted the inside of this back addition it was immediatly obvious we had a major situation. Rotten was an understatement. Over years of neglect this building was missing large sections of support due to rot. After a few meetings and discussions the solution became obvious. This simple repair job turned into a demolition and rebuilding a new addition. Did I mention this was in November?!

So I gathered my crew. Now this was no ordinary addition. It was big. The dimensions were something along the lines of 15-20 feet wide by 45-50 feet long with 12-14 foot ceilings… We had to make it match the exterior of the rest of the building so we installed wooden clap board for siding. The City Inspectors popped in here and there.

Oh, one last thing. It was a flat roof. I put a torch down rubber on it… and a deck. Well, there was a door up there. So you had to have a deck.

So we battled the cold and completed the project in about a month……………….

That’s the background. I’ve been in touch with the owner off and on over the last few years. I’ve done a few smaller projects for him along the way. We actually have become pretty good friends.

Unfortunately, I’ve had a very busy year. Not only in my insurance business, but of course pursuing opportunities online! So I hadn’t talk to him for a while.

Last night I received a call and shockingly it was him. He called to wish me a Merry Christmas and to see how I was doing. He also wanted to thank me again for the work I did for him on the addition. “Matt, if it was anyone else, it wouldn’t have gotten done. Thank you so much for working so hard and completing the project!”

That project did require the extra mile… actually it was probably the extra 100 miles. But I focused and got it done with the help of a good crew I had at the time.

After chatting for a bit, I told him I was picking up projects again. I’ve actually done a little advertising for Matt’s Painting & Repair. I needed some extra cash over the holidays. And surprisingly I’ve made a ton of money and have projects lined up. With just a little advertising… maybe the little extra money over the holidays will extend into next year! We’ll see where it goes.

Well he mentioned to me he picked up another property (he owns several) and he’ll call me after the holidays with some projects.

Now do you think if I would have bailed out on that addition, that he would have called me and I would have more money to look forward to next year? The answer is NO if you had to think.

So go the extra mile!

It blows my mind how many people fall so short of their potential. People complain about not making enough money, failing to find success, or repeat clients and customers. The extra effort you put in will come back to you. You will never have to worry about be short of work. You’ll never have to worry about paying the bills.

Everyone has the potential to succeed, but you can’t be lazy and you can’t do just enough. You must do more than enough.

Go!

Note from WorkAtHomeTruth:

You can read more about Matt Levenhagen and his Campaign Blasts Method here.