Hey, it’s Bob Negen and welcome to another episode of Real Retail TV.

In today’s episode, I’m going to explore a perhaps radical rule for retail success.

So what is this perhaps radical rule in what I’m talking about here is the rule of reciprocity.

You see, Amazon has lots and lots of data. They have artificial intelligence.

You know, the big brands have size and scope.

You know, the big box stores have efficiencies that we as small independent brick and mortar retailers will never have.

But what we have is the ability to give. What we have is the ability to give on a very real human scale.

So the rule of reciprocity, this perhaps radical rule simply says givers get.

Now think about that for a moment.

Givers get. Let me give you an example of the rule of reciprocity in action. So let’s say I was walking towards a set of double doors.

Not the kind of when you’re in a warm time, if you’re in Phoenix or Arizona or Florida, they typically have a door that goes from the inside to the outside. But here in Michigan, where it’s cold, we have a door. Then we have a space to keep the cold out. Then we have another door. So let’s say I was walking towards a set of doors with Nate and I don’t know Nate and you know, but I step in front of Nate and I open the door for Nate. Nate walks through.

What does Nate do for me?

Nate opens the second set of doors, doesn’t it? Doesn’t he? It would be a little uncomfortable and awkward if Nate stood there and expected me to open the second door, wouldn’t it? You see, here’s what happened. I did something nice and Nate felt the need to reciprocate.

He felt the need to give back.

And Robert Cialdini explores this brilliantly in his book Influence. And if you want to be a more successful retailer, I strongly recommend that you read Cialdini’s book Influence.

But in that book, Cialdini talks about that this is not me being polite or Nate being polite. Although I was being polite, Nate wasn’t being polite. Nate felt the need to reciprocate. Nate felt the need to give back. And this is something that is hardwired into us. You see, social scientists have contend that we, as human beings, are the only species that proactively build webs of indebtedness.

And that’s what I’m suggesting to you. If you are a small to mid sized independent brick and mortar retailer, the perhaps the most effective way for you to build your business is to proactively build webs of indebtedness. So what does the rule of reciprocity mean? It means that you switch from asking yourself, what can I get to? What can I give?

You switch from how can I get more from my customers to how can I give more to my customers? You know, the more that you give to your customers, the more loyal they’re going to be in. The more loyal they are to you, the more money they’re going to spend with you. And then you give more and they give more. Susan coined a term, and she calls it an upward spiral of prosperity.

It goes this that same thing. The more you give, the more you get. So ask yourself, what can I give to my community that will make my community want to support me? And I know a lot of you out there, really, really felt that love and felt that support through the quarantine, through the pandemic, right?

You had been giving long enough that you had built that reservoir of goodwill. So what can I give to my community that will make my community want to support me? What can I give to my customers that will engender that kind of loyalty that really leads to a, you know, a significant lifetime value of a customer? What can I give to my team that will make them want to give my customers an amazing experience?

What can I give to my vendors that’s going to make them want to service me in the best human way possible?

So the rule of reciprocity is powerful for us as business people, but it’s also powerful for us as people, as human beings. And I want to share that. I believe that if you let the rule of reciprocity be a strategy that drives your life and drives your business that you are going to have more fun in your life. Your business is going to be easier.

You’re going to, you know, everything about it is going to work easier. It’s going to work better. It’s going to be more fun and it’s going to be more profitable.

Now I know some of you are saying, Wow, Bob, what do you mean? You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know my customers. My customers are all trying to take advantage of me.

You know, you’re finding reasons to fight against this. And I am not by any means suggesting that you shouldn’t be strategic, that you shouldn’t watch your numbers, that you shouldn’t be careful in your relationships, not by any means. I’ve been an entrepreneur for forty years. I’ve seen all kinds of stuff happen, but I am suggesting that an overall strategy and philosophy of givers get is going to serve you well.

Well, I hope that you found that helpful. I hope that you, if you don’t believe that givers get that, I hope that this is food for thought. And in addition to a happy birthday to Susan, I would love to hear what you have to say. Put your comments down below. I’m Bob Negen, and we’ll see see you next week.