Giving is firstly an investment in yourself

I’ve always maintained that the key to unlocking word of mouth is reciprocity – what we do for other people and how much personal effort we put into it. The recent fiasco with BP shows that word of mouth is also generated by the things we don’t do…

BP doesn’t check water levels of vehicles on their forecourt, no matter how desperate the need of their customers (even the elderly) because the ‘rules and regulations’ don’t allow it… this blind adherence to bureaucracy landed BP on national television news, in national newspapers, on national radio.

It has not gone down well with the public, despite BP’s position that the ‘safety of their staff’ comes first (obviously they don’t believe their staff have the ability to act with common sense in assessing the situation).

Rules there may be, but if you want to receive goodwill (like positive word of mouth), you have to exercise goodwill. That means going the extra mile.

Sometimes we may not even get a thanks for ‘going that extra mile’. The customer may not give it a second thought. Our act of ‘bravery’, ‘goodwill’ or ‘initiative’ may go forever unappreciated… to all outward appearances.

But, and it’s a big BUT, I don’t believe any act of giving ever goes ‘unappreciated’. The customer will return (because you’ve not given them any reason not to); and each act of giving will build up your own character and habits and it will shape the kind of person you become.

So the more giving we become, the more it will come back to us. “Do unto others…”

My point? Your goodwill and your acts of giving may have limited effect on the recipient, but that doesn’t matter because each act is first and foremost an investment in yourself.