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So many times people and businesses say, “Why don’t you give me money something, and in return I will give you something.” Sometimes it works much better to give first. People don’t always want public recognition or awards in order to get motivated, but what they do want is to know that someone cares.

I used to work at a call center before starting out on my own online. When you take calls day after day helping people to solve their problems, you experience a wide variety of emotions even from one call to the next. One person you might talk to is completely ecstatic you fixed the problem and will always try to call just you back. Other callers are pissed and frustrated at their situation and let that come out on the phone (as if I caused the problem directly). They could care less about anybody, only the problem. It is very easy for me, and I am sure others, to respond in kind to flared up tempers, sometimes it’s required. What the customers on the phone are really saying is that they have a problem and want to know you will do everything possible to help them. That isn’t always easy to convey.

In order to drive the best customer experience possible, we have to ensure our customers that they do in fact matter and we will do all we can to take care of them. This is also the case when seeking out potential customers or managing your brand.

People love working for someone they can connect with and relate to. This is why it is important to meet with and connect to everyone in your organization regardless of their position. Studies have shown that having that connection reduces turnover rates, leads to higher productivity and overall good will throughout the office.

When looking for customers, leads, employees or promoting a brand, people want to feel important, included and irreplaceable. In order to make that happen, it is important to find ways to connect to people on a level that meets one if not more of those needs. Opening the door to subscribe to others’ blogs in my Google Reader was a way for me to follow the same people that follow me. Reciprocity, in essence. I like having readers and visitors frequent my blog, and I would like to do the same, but the truth is, there are only so many hours in the day. So in order to stay in touch, I offered to subscribe to anyone’s blog who posted a link. So easy, it’s not too late.

In the end, I am sure I gained even more subscribers of my own in a give and take respect and it also allowed me to subscribe and follow the people who frequent my blog. The key is to convert that same give and take into building your brand or gaining customers. This is why offering an hour of free consulting, troubleshooting or promoting is such a value tool. You are giving a little of what you have, the customer knows that you care and ultimately that ounce of energy multiplies into a pound return. The key is to use what you have and to find the balance that best fits.

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