Too often when you watch a baseball game, if you really pay attention like I do you see that most players never back up a base. The thing about backing up a base is that nobody notices until there is an over throw and you are standing in right field blowing kisses to your girlfriend.

Backing up a base is a thankless job, it is boring, repetitive, and most of the time unnecessary except it is actually never unnecessary. If you knew when an over throw would happen then it would be useless to ever back up a base until your instincts kicked in, problem is, this is not the case.

So it is a little detail that may pay off 1 time per year, but what if that 1 time per year was the time you were tied and the runner on 3rd tried to score and you threw him out at the plate, then won the game in the bottom of the ninth to claim the championship. Exaggerated? Yes, for effect,

More likely that 1 time will be a play that may save a run in the middle of the season, and after you clinch the the title by 1 game, people like me will remember that play and say “if Derrick didn’t back up that base against team x we would have tied for the title, but because he did, we won it outright”.

Point being, you never know how much your attention to detail will pay off, you just know it will. You also never know how much attention you will get because you pay such close attention to detail, but chances are, if you are this type of person, you are not worried about personal gain, you are a team player.

So how can this effect your business? Just like baseball, business needs attention to detail, shipping costs, return policy, washing instructions, drop down menu, ease of website navigation, efficient meetings, and so on.

All these little things may never hurt you until one of your customers wants to return an item and they don’t know how, or what the process is. They wash and dry the shirt and it shrinks too much, all because you forgot to tell them to wash on cold and hang dry. Your drop down menu has too many selections, and the most popular are not at the top. Your meetings drag on and the only thing that comes out of it is another meeting.

Practice the little things, pay attention to them, perfect them, and people will enjoy their experience as a customer and as an employee. The great companies make promises and deliver on them the vast majority of the time, but when they do not, there is some minor detail in place to make it right.