I've just returned from a week's vacation - an excellent week skiing in St Anton (Austria). There are many reasons why my little skiing gang ends up returning to St Anton again and again and all those reasons boil down to one thing: high quality service.

This is going to be a reasonably brief Business Booster this week, in which I'll touch on some of the things the Austrians do to make you feel so welcome in their country.

You can do exactly the same for your customers too. At the end of the day it makes good business sense - my little skiing gang aren't the only repeat customers at St Anton...
 
At the bottom of the slopes in St Anton is a ski equipment rental shop. Apart from renting equipment they will also look after your own equipment for a small daily charge. This is really useful - it saves a trudge through town each morning and afternoon with your skis and ski boots. Overnight boots are hung on special horns that circulate hot air through through the boots to dry them out. What an excellent service - our gang were really excited when we first discovered this some years ago and we've been regular customers every since, as we find the allure of warm ski boots first thing in the morning irresistible.

Imagine our surprise this year when the boss of the shop casually offered us a huge discount on our week's storage charge. Was there any particular reason? No. Were we his biggest customers? No. Had we been going to St Anton regularly since the year dot? No - in fact, we'd even skipped last year and gone somewhere else.

So what was all this about?

Well, he's a really nice guy and all that, but on reflection I found something deeper going on. I believe we were witnessing one of the six methods of influence in action (see the second book in the right margin for more information). He was demonstrating...

The power of "Reciprocity"
Reciprocity is all about giving stuff away and the power it evokes. It's a simple enough concept:

If I give stuff away to you, without any expectation (explicit or implied) of receiving anything in return, then you will feel obliged to return the favour.

The trick is to pick something that is cheap for you to supply and perceived to be of high value by the recipient.

Our friend in the ski rental shop gave us a big discount on equipment storage - he didn't give it to us for free - so he was still making money. As recipients of his largesse we thought this was great - we valued the service highly, so to be offered it at a discount was just wonderful.

What happened next?
One of my friends bought himself some new ski boots on holiday. From which shop do you think he bought them?

So now what?

Put the kettle on, make your favourite hot drink and take stock. Pause for 15-20 minutes and let your brain free-wheel. Write down all those things you could freely give away to your clients, that (a) wouldn't harm your profit margin (that much) and (b) which they'd value highly.

If you're really not sure about what those things might be, try asking a few clients:

"What do you find most valuable about my service?"

I really encourage you to give this a go. Do it honestly (without any expectation of a return) - and do it wisely (without sacrificing too much profit) - and enjoy the rewards.