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The Fred Factor

How passion in your work and life can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary

The Fred Factor is an international bestselling book with over 2,000,000 copies sold in 20 languages. It teaches how to turn the ordinary into extraordinary in your work and life. Written in 2004, the message is timeless and Random House will release a special 20th Anniversary edition in early 2024.

Here you’ll learn about the four principles, read the first chapter for free, and learn about how you can take the online training and even become a licensed Fred Factor presenter.

The Fred Factor
Mark Sanborn

About the Author

Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE, is president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea studio dedicated to developing leaders in business and in life. Mark is an international bestselling author and noted expert on leadership, team building, customer service and change.

Mark Sanborn graduated cum laude from The Ohio State University. In addition to his work as a business educator and author, Mark continues to be an active leadership practitioner, including having served as the president of the National Speakers Association.

Mark holds the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association (NSA) and is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame. He was honored with the Cavett Award, the highest honor the NSA bestows on its members, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the speaking profession. Mark is also a member of the exclusive Speakers Roundtable, made up of 20 of the top speakers in America.

"Really glad that you were able to come and talk for us again. Your presentation was the highlight of the meeting. People are still talking about it. Hopefully we can have you back in the future."
— Kiewit

Four Principles of The Fred Factor

Principle #1:
Everyone Makes A Difference.

It doesn’t matter how large or even how screwed up an organization is. An individual can still make a difference within that organization. An employer can hinder exceptional performance, choose to ignore it, and not adequately recognize or encourage it. Or, an employer can train employees to achieve exceptional performance and then reward it. But ultimately, only the employee can choose to do his or her job in an extraordinary way, either because of, or in spite of, circumstances.

Martin Luther King said, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’”

Fred understood this. He is proof that there are no insignificant or ordinary jobs when they’re performed by significant and extraordinary people Politicians are fond of telling us that work gives people dignity. I don’t disagree. Having work to do, and the means to make a living for one’s self and family, is important. But that is only half of the equation.

What we haven’t been told nearly enough is that people give work dignity. There are no unimportant jobs, just people who feel unimportant in their jobs. That’s probably why B.C. Forbes, the legendary founder of Forbes magazine, said, “There is more credit and satisfaction in being a first-rate truck driver than a tenth-rate executive.”

I have personally met a cab driver or two more inspired in how they performed their work than some upper level managers who seemed to have lost any inspiration for excellence. Still, while position never determines performance, ultimately performance determines position in life. That’s because position is based on results, rather than intentions. It’s about actually doing what others usually only talk about.

Setting a higher standard is more challenging than simply achieving the status quo. Ignoring the criticism of those who are threatened by the achievement of others depends not on your title, but your attitude. Ultimately, the more value you create for others, the more value will eventually flow towards you. Knowing you’ve done your best, independent of the support, acknowledgment or reward of others, is a key determinant in a fulfilling career.

Principle #2:
Everything Is Built on Relationships.

Most of the mail sent to me has ended up in my mailbox. The service was performed by the U.S. Postal Service, which gave me what I paid for-nothing more, nothing less.

In contrast, the service I received from Fred was amazing for many reasons, but the biggest reason was the relationship I had with Fred. It differed from the relationships I’ve had with any other postal carrier, before or since. As a matter of fact, Fred was probably the only postal carrier I felt I ever had a personal relationship with.

It’s easy to see why. Indifferent people deliver impersonal service. Service becomes personalized when a relationship exists between the provider and the customer. Fred took time to get to know me, and understand my needs and preferences. And then he used that information to provide better service than I had ever received before.

Fred is proof that, in any job or business, relationship building is the most important objective because the quality of the relationship differentiates the quality of the product or service. That’s also why: leaders succeed when they recognize the human nature of their employees, technology succeeds when it recognizes the human nature of its users and Fred the Postman still succeeds because he recognizes the human nature of his work.

Principle #3:
You Must Continually Create Value for Others, and It Doesn’t Have to Cost a Penny.

Don’t have enough money? The necessary training? The right opportunities? In other words, do you ever complain that you lack resources? Have you started believing that “more with less” is an impossibility?

Then consider Fred. What resources did he have at his disposal? A drab blue uniform and a bag. That’s it! He walked up and down streets with that bag full of mail, and his heart and head full of imagination. That imagination enabled him to create value for his customers, and he didn’t spend an extra dollar to do it. He just thought a little bit harder and more creatively than most other postal carriers.

By doing so, Fred mastered what I believe is the most important job skill of the 21st century: the ability to create value for customers without spending more money to do it.

Over the years I’ve met many people who were concerned that they might lose their jobs and become a victim of downsizing. They were worried about whether or not they would be employed in the months ahead. I always tell them to quit worrying about it. That usually gets their attention. Of course, they are shocked at what seems to be my indifference. In reality, I am just trying to refocus their attention from being employed to being employable.

A high school or college graduate today can probably count on being unemployed a few times during his or her career. But that unemployment will be brief, as long as the individual is employable. To be employable means having a skill set that makes a person desirable to any employer, regardless of industry or geographic location.

So what makes someone employable? There are many skills that contribute to employability, but I am convinced that the most critical skill is this: the ability to create value for customers and colleagues without spending money to do it. The trick is to replace money with imagination, to substitute creativity for capital.

Sanborn’s maxim says that the faster you try to solve a problem with money, the less likely it is the best solution. Anyone can buy his or her way out of a problem with enough money. The challenge is to outthink, rather than to outspend, the competition.

This raises an interesting question: just what competition did Fred face? For many of us in the world of business, the competition is either inside or outside our organizations, and sometimes both. For example, you may be competing for a better position in your department or company. While professional decorum might prevent you from describing it this way, you hope that the best man or woman for the job will be the one who gets it, and you’re working to prove that you’re that person.

Often there is an identified competitor in the marketplace, too. When I spoke at a conference cosponsored by a delivery service that considers the U.S. Postal Service a rival, I was forbidden to use the story of Fred in my presentation. (It struck me as odd that the company wouldn’t want me to use Fred as an example of the kind of service it aspired to and encouraged all of their employees to deliver.)

Because the Postal Service competes for revenue against alternative carriers, employees like Fred can help or hinder the cause. Most employers recognize that Fred is the kind of employee who could give them a competitive advantage, whether or not Fred thought in those terms.

I’m not sure that he does. I think Fred is proof that there is another, less tangible competitor in the world. That competitor is the job we could have done. In a manner of speaking, we compete against our potential every day. And most of us, myself included, fall short of what we are capable of doing or being.

I don’t assume to understand all that motivates Fred, but I suspect the gratification he gets from excelling in his work is a big factor, just like the happiness and service he consistently delivers to his customers.

But, at the end of the day, Fred has beaten a silent opponent that threatens his potential, just as it threatens yours and mine. That competitor is mediocrity, a willingness to do just enough and nothing more than necessary to get by.

While this competitor may not beat you out for a job promotion or take away corporate market share, it will just as surely diminish the quality of your performance and the meaning you derive from it.

Principle #4:
You Can Reinvent Yourself Regularly.

The most important lesson I’ve learned from Fred begs a question: If Fred could bring such originality to putting mail in a box, how much more could you and I reinvent our work?

There are days when you wake up tired. You figure you’ve read the books, listened to the audiotapes, watched the videos, and sat through the training sessions. You’re doing everything you can possibly do but you’re still fatigued and unmotivated. So when life is at low tide-when your professional commitment is wavering and just getting the job done and going home at the end of the day becomes your primary objective-what do you do?

Here’s what I do: I think about the guy who used to deliver my mail. Because if Fred the Postman could bring that kind of creativity and commitment to putting mail in a box, I can do as much or more to reinvent my work and rejuvenate my efforts. I believe that no matter what job you hold, what industry you work in or where you live, every morning you wake up with a tabula rasa, a clean slate. You can make your business, as well as your life, anything you choose it to be.

Meet Fred

The first time I met a “Fred” was just after I had purchased what I called a “new old house.” Located in a beautiful, tree-lined area of Denver called Washington Park, the house had been built in 1928. A first-time homeowner, I’d only been living there for a few days when I heard a knock on my front door. I opened it, and saw a mailman standing there.

“Good morning, Mr. Sanborn!” he exclaimed cheerfully. “My name is Fred and I’m your postal carrier. I just stopped by to introduce myself, welcome you to the neighborhood and find out a little bit about you and what you do for a living.” Of medium height and build with a small mustache, Fred was an ordinary-looking fellow. But, while his physical appearance didn’t convey anything out of the ordinary, his sincerity and warmth were noticeable immediately.

Fred the Postman

I was taken back. I’d been receiving mail for most of my life, but I had never received anything like this kind of an introduction from my postal carrier. But it did impress me as a nice touch.

I replied, “I’m a professional speaker. I don’t have a real job.”

“If you’re a professional speaker, you must travel a lot,” said Fred.

“Yes, I do. I travel anywhere from 160 to 200 days a year.”

Nodding, Fred went on. “Well, if you just give me a copy of your schedule, I’ll hold your mail and bundle it. I’ll only deliver it on the days that you are at home to receive it.”

This was amazing! But, as I told Fred, that was probably not necessary. “Why not just leave the mail in the box on the side of the house?” I suggested. “Then I’ll pick it up when I come back into town.”

Fred explained, “Mr. Sanborn, burglars often watch for mail building up in a box. That tells them that you’re out of town, and you might become the victim of a break-in.”

Fred was more worried about my mail than I was! But after all, I realized, he was the postal professional.

He continued, “Here’s what I suggest. I can put mail in your box as long as the lid closes. That way nobody will know that you’re gone. Whatever doesn’t fit in the box, I’ll put between the screen door and the front door. Nobody can see it there. And if that area becomes too full of mail, I’ll just hold the rest of it for you until you come back into town.”

At this point I started to wonder: does this guy really work for the U.S. Postal Service? Maybe this neighborhood had its own private mail delivery service. Still, Fred’s suggestions sounded like a terrific plan to me, so I agreed to them.

Two weeks later I returned home from a trip. As I put the key in my front door lock, I noticed that my doormat was missing. I was puzzled; I doubted that anyone was actually stealing doormats in Denver. I looked around on my front porch and I found my doormat in the corner.

It was covering something.

Here’s what had happened: While I was gone, UPS had misdelivered a package sent to me. The box was left on somebody else’s porch five doors down. Lucky for me, Fred the Postman was on the job. Noticing my box on the wrong porch, he picked it up, carried it down to my house and put it out of view. He also attached a note explaining what had happened, and then tried to make it less noticeable by placing the doormat over it. Not only was Fred delivering the mail, he was now picking up slack for UPS!

His actions really struck me. As a professional speaker, it is easy to find and point out what’s “wrong” with quality, customer service and business in general. Finding examples of what’s “right,” or even praiseworthy, is much harder. Yet here was Fred, a gold-plated example of what personalized service looked like and a role model for anyone who wanted to make a difference in his or her work. Because of Fred’s example I started sharing my experiences with him in speeches and seminars I presented across the country. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to hear about Fred, whether they were in a service business or manufacturing, high tech or healthcare. Audiences were enthralled and inspired.

Back at home, sometimes I had a chance to share with Fred how his work was inspiring others. I told him about a discouraged employee who had been receiving no recognition from her employers. She wrote to tell me that Fred’s example inspired her to “keep on keeping on” and doing what she knew in her heart was the right thing to do, regardless of recognition or reward.

I related the confession of a manager who pulled me aside after one speech to tell me he never realized that his career goal all along was to be “a Fred.” He believed in excellence and quality as the goal of every person in any business or profession.

And I was delighted to tell him that several companies created a Fred Award to present to employees who demonstrated the same spirit of service, innovation and commitment that he did. Someone once sent Fred a box of homemade cookies, care of my address!

As for myself, I wanted to thank Fred more formally for his exceptional service. When Christmas rolled around, I left a small gift in the mailbox for him. The next day, when the mail was delivered, I found an unusual letter in my box. The envelope had a stamp on it, but the stamp wasn’t canceled. That’s when I noticed the return address. The letter was from Fred the Postman.

Fred knew it was illegal to put a letter that wasn’t posted in the box. So, even though he personally carried it from his house to my house, he still put a stamp on to keep it legal.

The letter said, in part, “Dear Mr. Sanborn, Thank you for remembering me at Christmas . . . I am flattered you talk about me in your speeches and seminars. I hope I can continue to provide exceptional service. Sincerely, Fred the Postman.”

Over the next ten years, I received consistently remarkable service from Fred. I could always tell the days when he wasn’t working my street just by the way the mail was jammed in my box. When Fred was on the job it was always neatly bundled.

But Fred also took a personal interest in me. One day while I was mowing the front lawn, a vehicle slowed in the street. The window went down and a familiar voice yelled, “Hello Mr. Sanborn! How was your trip?” It was Fred, off duty and driving around the neighborhood.

To this day, I can’t tell you what motivated Fred. I know he didn’t get paid more for his extraordinary work. I doubt he received any special recognition from his employer (if he did, I never heard about it). I know he wasn’t privy to any exceptional training or incentive programs.

One thing I do know: Fred, and the way he did his job, is a perfect metaphor for anyone who wants to achieve and excel in the 21st century. Truth is transferable, and the four principles I learned from Fred apply to any person in any profession.

Inspired by Fred the Postman and the countless other Freds I’ve met, observed or been served by in numerous professions, I wrote The Fred Factor. It contains the simple yet profound lessons all the Freds taught me. Anyone can do them. Everyone should. By learning how to be a Fred it’s possible to do extraordinary work. And that means being an extraordinary person as well – something we all want to be.

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The Fred Factor Online Self-Study Course

If you want to make life more interesting, The Fred Factor online course can help

How many days on the job do you find yourself living through on
autopilot?

How many everyday tasks do you perform in “fast-forward mode”?

For most individuals, it is easy to file a job away under “menial” or
“tedious” and adopt the grim philosophy that people can only enjoy their lives after they clock out.

But those people – most people – will work 90,000 hours over the course of their lives. 90,000 hours… on autopilot.

That is way too many hours to write off as “unenjoyable.” So, how do you make the shift?

It’s a matter of perspective.

In The Fred Factor online course, award-winning speaker and author Mark Sanborn offers you key insights that help you make the jump from ordinary to extraordinary.

Click Here to Freducate Yourself

ONLINE COURSE

$199Regularly $249
  • 8 video teaching modules in which Fred Factor author Mark Sanborn takes you through the book’s stories, strategies, and steps forward
  • A downloadable participant guide to direct your notetaking, including reflection questions to help you engage, and action items for you to apply
  • Self-inventory assessment: Are You a Fred?: examine your attitude toward the mundane and discover your strengths and growth opportunities
  • 30 Days of Fred implementation guide – a one-month worksheet full of practical prompts that will reframe your day-to-day perspective
  • A concise summary of The Fred Factor, organizing all its principles and insights into one clean outline
  • BONUS FEATURE: watch Mark Sanborn interview the man himself, Fred Shea
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The Fred Factor Teaching License

This is the first time ever that a Fred Factor teaching license has been made publicly available.

Mark Sanborn’s critically acclaimed book has sold more than two million copies…

…has charted on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller lists…

…and has been embraced by companies worldwide for its inspirational approach to customer service.

The Fred Factor motivates employees to create memorable customer experiences that become meaningful customer relationships.

And now, you can empower your team and/or your clients with the perspective needed to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Click Here to Spread the Fred

TRAINING LICENSE

$999For corporate licensing, contact Mark
  • All of the resources in the self-study online course, plus…
  • A lifetime single-person license to teach and train The Fred Factor
  • A downloadable facilitator guide to support in the teaching process
  • Marketing graphic resources – the official Fred Factor trainer seal, and 3D renderings of the Fred Factor book cover
  • Mark Sanborn’s tips and tricks for teaching and training The Fred Factor
  • The opportunity to engage with future Fred Factor licensee-exclusive offers
  • For corporate licensing, please contact Mark Sanborn at (303) 748-1445 or click on the button below.
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Fred Isn't Back – He Never Left!

The Fred Factor is a classic work that has withstood the test of time
and is as relevant today as when the book was published.