Practically Giving It Away
There is a running joke in my family that originated from one of my mom’s shopping excursions. When she returned home, my dad proceeded to grill her on how much she had spent on a particular purse. My mom’s response was classic: “They were practically giving it away!” she exclaimed. Now, every time my wife comes home with goods in hand, “practically giving it away” seems to be the going rate of just about everything.
When purchasing something, be it goods or services, everyone likes to feel that they got a good deal. In professional circles, we prefer the term “value” but it means the same thing – that the customer walked away with the sense of getting more than their money’s worth. Of course, getting something for free is the ultimate deal – theoretically resulting in an infinite return on investment for the customer. In addition, customers who get something for free tend to feel an obligation to either buy something or refer other potential customers. Believe it or not, Costco doesn’t just give away free food samples because they like you. It’s actually good for business. So, our dilemma becomes how do we instill in our clients the sense that we are practically giving our services away without driving ourselves out of business in the process?
As funny as it sounds, there are actually many effective strategies for giving away your services. The key to remember is that nothing is ever really free. You want to ensure that you’re getting something in return, either directly or indirectly, before you take the plunge. For example, Ware Malcomb has been giving away “free site planning” for years. No contracts to sign. No deposits needed. The client walks away from the process with a professional site plan that they can use however they wish. Why would anyone simply give these services away? Because it has been one of the most effective marketing strategies for the company hands down. Think about it: Get in on the project early, build a relationship with the client, add value that the client feels obligated to repay – it all adds up to brilliant marketing! As an added bonus, the company logo is plastered to the title block of every site plan. These documents will potentially be circulating for years to come. Free indeed!
Here is one more example to demonstrate the power of this concept. I have this friend – let’s say his name is John (because it is) – who called me yesterday and said he had just come from a meeting with a prestigious client. John was sitting in the client’s spacious conference room, when the client asked him, “Would you happen to know a good aerial survey firm that could create a nice wall map for our conference room?”
Without hesitation, John replied, “Sure, you’re looking at him. Not only that, but I’ll throw in the labor for free.”
Suspicious, the client asked, “So what’s the catch?”
“The catch is that I’m going to put a big fat logo for my company on your wall map for everyone who comes into this conference room to see.”
After contemplating this, the client said, “Yeah, ok. I can live with that.”
I’m eager to see the business that John passively drums up with that wall map. Sure, he’ll probably need to pay someone for the aerial data; but heck, these days I hear they’re practically giving it away.