Saturday found us browsing new car seats at Target. It’s something we would usually order online after careful research, but after buckling our little dude in that morning, we realized we have a giant toddler on our hands. I decided we should just pick up the best one we could find for our needs at Target.

We found just what we were looking for, but the only one they had on the shelf was blue. We wanted the red display model because it matched our car (I know, such a yuppie thing.)

We called a Target team member to see if they had a red one in the back. She was nice enough and checked for us, but came back with bupkis. Nada. Zilch. Strong absence of red.

Okay, bummer, right? Yeah, we survived. We’ll probably just order it online now. But it got me thinking (as you just knew it would). A couple observations about this trip to Target:

• The store was really slow. Not a lot of Target shoppers lately, I’ve noticed. In fact, a lot of shelves were eye-sore empty. It looked like a Goodwill going out of business.
• No overhead music. Deathly quiet in the store.

So, with these observations noted and considering the current state of the economy, I was struck by the fact that the nice Target lady left us with just, “Sorry, none in the back.”

I was struck with the realization that when Target lays off employees, they will probably be shocked. When Target’s sales suck, Corporate will blame “the economy.”

The craziest thing about this is that there are these tiny, yet incredible, opportunities for the nice Target lady to save her store.

She couldn’t help the fact that there were no red car seats in stock at that moment. However, she could have:

• Offered to call another local store to check
• Looked at the display to see if the cover could be switched with the one in the package
• Asked us a few questions about what we were looking for (besides “red”) to see if there might be another option in stock that could work for us.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that regular, on-the-clock Target employees don’t make enough money to offer that kind of salesmanship or customer involvement.

I’m saying, how can they afford not to offer that kind of customer support?

You see, I don’t care how much money you make per hour. I don’t care that your job is “only part time.” I don’t care that you don’t have health benefits.

As a company, Target is not really saving money by leaving shelves unstocked. They’re telling customers, “We’re anticipating having trouble so we don’t care how we look right now. It’s about us, not you.“

Those tiny, seemingly insignificant things like dirty, empty shelves and silence in the store are things that stick in people’s minds long after they leave (obviously, since I’m writing it about a week later).

Are you listening closely? Good. Hear this:

If you don’t go the extra mile in this economy, you will lose your job, your company will go under, and/or you will not get repeat business from your consulting clients.

If you’re working from home, you cannot afford to just do a job as promised. You can’t rely on simply delivering at expectations. In a good economy, a company like Target may be big enough to absorb a lot of lackluster employees. In a poor economy, it could be their downfall.

It’s just not enough.

There are people close to me who are being laid off as their companies reexamine their profit/loss statements. I sympathize with them, I really do. I don’t mean to make it sound as if they could have kept their job if they just worked harder. It’s more complex than that, sure.

As independent business people, even more important to take those extra steps to please your clients. I’m not talking about offering services at a discount or free (that’s a swear word for consultants). On the contrary, independent consultants should be charging premiums for their work on the basis that they are already saving their clients money simply by being lean organizations without large overhead or payroll to meet. Hiring a permanent employee or large company is going to cost a lot more in the long run. It also costs more to hire someone who doesn’t care about them beyond the invoice.

What are you projecting to your clients? Empty shelves and desperation, or a positive, “it’s all about the client” attitude?

If you can appreciate how this works, you can see how it applies to employees of large corporations. When an employee thinks like an independent consultant, they will offer more to customers without the dangling carrot of a bonus or raise (although those things tend to happen to those people anyway). Rather than working from a position of fear (losing their job), they will automatically be supporting the company in a more positive way by equating the company’s success with their own.

This economy is not simply “down.” It’s changing in a huge, huge way. People can’t afford to be “employees” anymore. Every single working person needs to be independent, even if they have a “contract” that calls them “employee.”

As home office warriors, we’re already ahead of the game. We need to stay ahead of the game by distinguishing ourselves as the highest value support around.

Think about it.

David Billings is an illustrator, animator, and writer. He currently runs two businesses from his home studio near beautiful Mount Hood, Oregon.

Sparky Firepants Images is focused on building kids’ brains to ginormous sizes while they have a crazy time. David creates fantastic, colorful images that complement books and educational media for preschool and elementary-level kids. A unique perspective on children’s publishing and the business of illustration can be found on his blog.

He also uses his technical expertise in creating corporate graphics and presentations to consult with and assist presenters of all types, keeping their audiences rapt with attention. Prepared Graphics focuses on helping individuals and small business owners with great content who don’t want to mess around with that PowerPoint stuff.

David lives with his wife and children on an alpaca farm. No, they don’t really smell that bad.