One of my goals is to read more books. When I first set that goal I wanted to read one book per month. I blew past that goal and now read two to three books per month because I am able to listen to them. A great read I already finished this year is called Influence, by Robert Cialdini. The book talks about the science of influence in terms of marketing and sales.
One of the rules Cialdini goes through in his book is the law of reciprocity, which is the whole givers game philosophy. If I give you something, then you’re going to feel the need to reciprocate – to give back.
Let’s discuss the law of reciprocity. If I give you something, at some point you’re going to want to return the favor. Cialdini discusses different experiments people in the learned areas of education have conducted and research that has been verified.
One of the research projects Cialdini worked on was called the Christmas Card List. In this experiment one of the professors started sending out random Christmas cards to people. Some people he didn’t even know because he was using the Yellow Pages or White Pages.
In this process he picked 10 addresses and the next year he got a 50% or 30% return rate. These random people added him to their Christmas card list and he started getting random Christmas cards from people and started having a Christmas card exchange. If you got one of these little Christmas cards, you would want to reciprocate – you’re going to want to send one back. Think about sending out birthday cards, anniversary cards, or Christmas cards, and you may get more business in return.
The organization he talked about in his book was Hare Krishna. This organization was likely to be seen in airports. Members of the org would put a flower on your shirt and then ask you for a donation. When they started this process of giving out flowers versus just asking for donations, they saw a huge increase in donations.
The law of reciprocity can be used all over in business. Give to get. You’re building that relationship. You’re building that trust.
I recorded a webinar on relationship marketing and how to use cards to keep in touch with prospects… check it out here: www.TomJackobs.com/relationship
When you’re ready to connect, schedule a strategy call here: https://tomjackobs.com/strategy
