One of the most powerful laws out there is the law of reciprocity. And the law of reciprocity says that when someone gives us something of value — genuine value, not with a hook, not with a string, but true genuine value — that we immediately do two things inside.
Number one, it elevates our level of trust in them. And number two, it triggers a social desire to give back. So agencies and brands have known for years that if they are generous with something, their audience, whoever that may be, responds well in kind. So I’ve seen a lot of agencies try to do things like a free audit or other things like that that allow someone to sample them.
But the challenge with reciprocity is that it’s a well-oiled machine and a well-used tactic. And so the trick is that reciprocity has to be literally no strings attached. So when you offer me a free audit, what do I expect? I expect that you’re going to try and sell me something, which diminishes the value of not only what you’ve given me for free—“for free”—but also makes me wary.
So instead of going into that relationship with trust, I’m suddenly on guard because I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’m waiting for you to say, “Well, now that I’ve given you the assessment, here’s what we can do for you for money, or here’s what would be the next logical step.”
You have to remove the hook when you offer something in your new business efforts that is a free sort of hook. It has to be given without any hooks or an ask. You absolutely can leave a door open for whoever gets that free audit, or whatever it may be, to ask you for more, or to say, you know what, tell me more about your services. But you have to stop short, one step short of going in for the sale. And that is tough for agencies.
So if you’re thinking about doing something, as a free offer, you’re offering a free Q&A, you are doing something like a free audit. You are willing to do a strategy session with someone. You’re willing to have an initial call about their business rather than your business. Whatever it is, catch yourself before you ask for the sale.
Next time, stop one step short of where you normally stop and watch the good things that happen.
View Video Transcript
Hey, everybody. Drew McLellan here from Agency Management Institute this week coming to you from Louisville, Kentucky. You know, one of the most powerful laws out there is the law of reciprocity. And the law of reciprocity says that when someone gives us something of value — genuine value, not with a hook, not with a string, but true genuine value —that we immediately do two things inside. Number one, it elevates our level of trust in them. And number two, it triggers a social desire to give back. So agencies and brands have known this for years that if we if they are generous with something that their audience, whoever that may be, responds well in kind. So I've seen a lot of agencies try to do things like a free audit or other things like that that allow someone to sample them. But the challenge with reciprocity is it's a well oiled machine and it's a well used tactic. And so the trick is the reciprocity has to be literally no strings attached. So when you offer me a free audit, what do I expect? I expect that you're going to try and sell me something. Which diminishes the value of not only what you've given me for free – “for free” – but it also makes me wary. So instead of going into that relationship with trust, now all of a sudden I'm on guard because I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'm waiting for you to say, well, now that I've given you the assessment, here's what we can do for you for money or here's what, is would be the next logical step.
So the trick, when you offer something in your new business efforts that is a free sort of hook, is that you have to remove the hook. It has to be given without any hooks at all, and has to be given without an ask. You absolutely can leave a door open for whoever gets that free audit, or whatever it may be, to ask you for more, or to say, you know what, tell me more about your services. But you have to stop short, one step short of going in for the sale. And that is tough for agencies. It is tough for us not to try and close the deal, not to try and make that time or that effort or whatever we gave away “worth it”. But what you do is you diminish the very powerful sense of reciprocity that you've created. So if you're thinking about doing something, as a free offer, you're offering a free Q & A, you are doing something like a free audit. You are willing to do a strategy session with someone. You're willing to have an initial call about their business rather than your business. Whatever it is, catch yourself before you ask for the sale.
After you've delivered the free thing, catch yourself. Just, just be valuable. Just be, just be generous. Give them the gift. Leave the door wide open. But stop. Stop short of doing exactly what they expect you to do, which is go for the sale. When you don't a) the value of what you just gave them increases, b) the trust they have in you increases, c) they're going to notice because that's so out of the norm. Everybody tries to turn reciprocity into a tit for tat. And when you don't do any of those things, you stand out as somebody who's very different to do business with, who's confident in what they do and they don't need to go in for the sale. So next time, stop one step short of where you normally stop and watch the good things that happen.
