Whilst I had not planned to write any new blog posts during my holiday, (I’ve been sending out scheduled posts since last Thursday), I really wanted to share this with you. It’s all about the power of small, simple human connections – the kind that are easy to forget, yet can be so powerful for you and your business.
What follows is a recent example, of how taking a few moments to think about another person’s situation and then offer some help, in even a very small way, can totally change that person’s day and the way they think about you.
It’s cool to help
On Saturday, I took my family to visit a castle in North Yorkshire. It was a hot, sunny day – around 80 degrees. The place was packed. The castle shop and ticket office were looked after by a very warm looking man, who I would guess was in his early sixties. He was busily working hard, to get everyone into the castle, whilst serving the gift shop’s customers too. I took a moment to speak with him and handed him a cold drink, which I’d got from the drinks machine.
His face lit up! He told me that in 14 years of working there, no one had ever done that before.
On our way out, the guy came over to us and thanked me again. The queue in the shop had gone and he was looking a lot cooler. He then gave my son a quick lesson on the castle’s history and handed all three of us, free tickets to a medieval jousting and falconry display; taking place there that evening. These tickets had been sold out for ages; we knew this because we tried to buy some before we set off on holiday!
The marketing power of giving
When I started out in sales, a former boss of mine told that it was important to help as many people within our marketplace as possible. He said these should be small, easy things – acts of kindness or help, which didn’t take too long to deliver – but were hard to forget. It worked. In fact, it worked extremely well and has continued to do so for the past 24 years!
Now, back when I started out proactively looking for ways to help prospective clients, it was almost exclusively with a focus on what I would get in return. Interestingly, after just a few weeks, I found that it had become a natural part of my daily routine and not just limited to business. I started looking for ways to help people, no matter who they were and without any thought of how it might benefit me (hence the castle example above.)
Most people will help someone in distress. This is different! This is about helping people, who may not be standing with their arms waving for help – those whose need may be less obvious or less vocal. If you have not previously tried this approach, I suggest you give it a try. As I wrote previously, small things can have a massive positive impact on your results AND make work a lot more fun too!
I would be interested to hear if you have had similar experiences to mine or what you think about this simple idea. Get in touch and let us know!
Jim Connolly can help you grow your business and achieve the breakthrough marketing results your hard work deserves. To find out more, simply click here!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Grant Griffiths and Jim Connolly, rene. rene said: The marketing power of giving: Whilst I had not planed to write any new blog posts during my holiday, (I’ve been s… http://bit.ly/9PZQhn [...]
A great story and a great lesson. Like so many other people, my time is always short, but your example shows that it doesn’t have to take a lot of time or effort to make a difference to others.
Agree. I always travel with a small packet of tissues in my briefcase/backpack. During a particularly charged meeting with a customer team, one of them had an allergy attack. I quietly pushed the pack across the table to her and the tone of the meeting changed immediately. On another trip (back when you had to use pay phones) a young woman on the next phone was sobbing uncontrollably about some loss. I put my hand on her shoulder and handed her the packet and walked away. You don’t always have to wait around for the results.
Hey Jim, I agree with you, but mostly on the latter part. When you focus to much in giving a gift when to get something in return it’s not a gift, it’s manipulation…
Now I know, from a sales point of view (done it myself for ten years) you are really focused on getting results.
So in my former job (started enterpeneuring since the 5th of may) I kept in contact with a prospective client for about a year. After two meetings my expectectation of doing business was pretty low, for the parts that we had focused on became unrelevant. But we clicked and kept in touch.
On some ocassions I came across relevant articles or blogposts which were relevant for him.
In reply on a mailconversation we had about a certain topic, he asked me for an offer on something a never expected them to get/be in the market for. You can guess the rest of this story
My point is, when you give the gift, as such you did to the guy in the castle, not expecting anything back (I guess… or you have psychic abilities). that’s when you get something in return. (which could have been just his face liting up)
Enjoyed your post!
It is always the little things that make the biggest difference.
I’ve found that when we give without expecting anything in return, that we are rewarded more than we could ever imagine.
Take care!
.-= Evelyn´s last blog ..Do More To Be Successful =-.
Love this post. Agree strongly with the part about giving just to do it. This nearly always leads to something magical happening. I say nearly only because the results are sometimes clouded by looking for them. The great part is in letting it all happen. I also love the idea of making it habitual so you don’t have to think about it – great ideas here. thanks…
Chris
.-= Christopher Frawley´s last blog ..“I’ll be happy when…” =-.
[...] you may know, I’ve been on holiday for the past 8 days. Because blogging is such a valuable part of my communications strategy, it [...]
[...] simply an amazing way to proceed through business and life. It’s the attitude of contribution. It’s about building relationships with great people, by instigating the process of [...]