Thomas Edison once said that “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

Jonas Salk once said “The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.”

Those are two of my all-time favorite quotes for together they embody our entrepreneurial spirit whether we are small business owners, sales reps, consultants, inventors, innovators or a combination of any of these. I have a third one that I will sprinkle in later that will wrap things up with a very exciting opportunity.

For the sake of this article, let’s define “hard work” as doing more than what is expected. Conversely, there are basic work expectations that are placed on us. These basic expectations can come from a boss, a written job description, or a colleague that depends on us so they can do their work. Basic work expectations can also be placed on us by our customers. Successfully meet these basic expectations and your customers will be satisfied.

But satisfied customers are not what we want, right? (Stay with me for a sec!) Let’s use ourselves for an example here. We all have countless products and services that we consume and use every day. And for the most part we are pretty satisfied with these products and services as well as the people we buy them from.

For each product or service we buy, we have several choices from whom to purchase them. And for many of them, it really doesn’t matter where we go to get them, as long as we get them. With these products or services, we are “satisfied customers.”

But for a handful of things, you just couldn’t imagine going anywhere else but that one special place to buy it. With these products or services, we are LOYAL customers. Why? Because someone saw and took advantage of an opportunity to provide additional value to their product or service. It may even just be the experience of getting it from that particular place or from that particular person. Whatever the reason, it brings you back without consideration of shopping elsewhere.

It is this distinction that I believe is one aspect of what Edison and Salk refer to. It is the opportunity to give the extra effort to go above and beyond that brings the reward to do it again and again for all of our loyal customers.

The third quote I mentioned earlier comes from Steve Pavlina, a leading expert on personal development. Steve writes that “When you discipline yourself to do what is hard, you gain access to a realm of results that are denied everyone else.” When reading that, I envision the doors to opportunity slamming open for those that put in the hard work rather than slamming shut on those that deliver basic expectations.

Here is the exciting piece to these three quotes – Opportunity does not discriminate! It is there for all of us to grab. And opportunity doesn’t always have to lie somewhere else. We all have hidden opportunities in what we currently do to slam the door open and turn our satisfied customers into loyal customers. Discover and commit to what you are going to do today to slam open your doors to opportunity!

Now, Go Get ‘Em!