The price for sloppiness and mediocrity is higher today than it has ever been. The marketplace doesn’t reward ordinary. If customers can get better service or value elsewhere; they’ll abandon the inferior for the superior without a second thought to loyalty. You would think that this would have companies clamouring for new and inventive ways to keep customers happy. Yet I am repeatedly astounded by the number of opportunities for optimal customer service that are completely bypassed or purposefully ignored. (See also Why Customer Service is so Bad at Most Places). Companies are typically delivering such lackluster experience, products and services that it directly hurts their bottom line.

It is often said that valleys help us appreciate the high points in life. While that may be true, too many people seem to accept the valley as a permanent residence. Instead, we should always aim for extraordinary every time. Why? Because ultimately it is the best offense and the best defense for both your company and you professionally. Here’s why, from a statistical perspective, you should be paying attention to this every time:

The Organizational Level

This Zappos case study presents a great example of how “extraordinary” in both internal and external company interactions can create a positive economic result. As Jeff Lin, former CFO of Zappos, points out “service is a by-product of culture,” so by fostering a culture that everyone wanted to be a part of they drove down their employee turnover rate to 39% (at the time, 150% was the turnover rate for typical call centers). Zappos’ prices were not (and still are not) lower than that of their competition, however, their service was and is so extraordinary that their repeat customers account for 75% of their business. Why would you leave a company that is taking care of you be it on the employment or the customer service side?

The Personal Level

When Mark Murphy tracked the results of over 20,000 new hires over time, within 18 months, 46% of those hires failed. Believe it or not, the predominant reason for failure (over 89% of the time) had absolutely nothing to do with skill and everything to do with attitude. You can have all the professional acumen in the world, but if you can’t deliver an extraordinary experience to those around you regardless of where you are in the company; odds are you won’t succeed.

If you are aiming to build a profitable, long-term company, or to poise yourself for personal professional success, my ultimate advice is to aim for the extraordinary every single day. Your best offense is to start with a positive attitude or culture. And your defense? To deliver an extraordinary experience as best as you can. Either way you slice it, you can’t go wrong.