Rodeo Tickets and the Pulling Effects of a Gift

The other day I attended a networking event; a rare outing for me as I dislike going to these social gatherings.  As a new attendee I had a chance to tell the group who I was in 60 seconds or less.  No pressure!  After every newbie took their turn, we all returned to our social networking ritual of asking strangers questions like:  "What do you do?"  "How long have you been doing it?" "Why did you decide to do that?"  "Do you like your job/career?" and so on.  

An hour and a half later, a raffle was held where the Master of Ceremony pulled random business cards from a fish bowl where we deposited them when I arrived at the event.  The most dominant thought in any gathering where a raffle is about to held is, "I never win everything".  I'm one of the few who always seems to win something.  My biggest gripe is, "I always win something I don't want."  That day was no different from any other time when I was a raffle winner.  I won...again!  My name was called and in no time I was the proud owner of a 4 primo tickets to a rodeo event to take place 3 days later.  I would NEVER go to a rodeo event if it were up to me.  Nonetheless, I accepted my prize with all the graciousness and enth usias m I could muster up.

The Pulling Effect

When I got home I told my wife about my winnings and asked, quite sheepishly mind you, if she was remotely interested in going to a rodeo event.  From her sideway stare and silence my question was answered.  I retreated to my home office and lay the tickets on my desk off to the side and I got back to answering emails and listening to voicemail.  As I did, I kept looking at the tickets and asking myself, "Who could I give these away to?"  I had to find somebody.  I couldn't just let $300 worth of tickets sitting on my desk when I knew they were only good for the upcoming event in three days.

Luckily, from the office of my window I saw my neighbor Harold pulling up to his driveway.  I grabbed the tickets, walked over to his place and asked him if he could use the tickets; no charge.  He was ecstatic!  He has a 7 year old grandson who would love it.  I handed him the tickets, and walked back to my office satisfied and content.  Mission accomplished!

What Happened?

Later on that night I reflected on those rodeo tickets and my anxiety to find someone to use them.  I mean, why did I care if anyone use them, they didn't cost me a penny?  Why couldn't I have simply trash them and be done with it?

It was at that moment that I realized the effects or influence of a gift.  I couldn't just let the tickets go to waste, I felt this need, this compulsion, this pull to find someone who could use them.  If the tickets has $0 value maybe I could've dumped them, but $300 was something my conscious couldn't bear tossing away.  I find it fascinating that a gift, given without condition, can come attached with a such a strong sense of obligation which compelled me to find a user.

The Sales Lesson 

What can we learn from my experience?  How can we create the same sense of obligation to generate business?  The answer came to me a few weeks later.  In the mail I received a "free" Happy Birthday gift from a restaurant called J. Christopher's.  I had 30 days in which to exercise this $10 gift.  Now I had never heard of J. Christopher's until that moment.  Yet, just like the rodeo tickets, I couldn't just toss the $10 gift certificate away.  Like before, I felt this sense of obligation to use it.  

Now, you know what's going to happen when I finally do use the $10 gift certificate.  Since I don't want to go eat by myself, I'll most likely bring the family along.  By the time all is said and done, and the meals have been eaten, I'll probably get stuck with a $50 - $80 bill.  Sure, I'll get $10 off but I would'n't spent that money in the first place (or at least J. Christopher's) if I hadn't gotten the 'free' gift certificate.  

This 'free' certificate strategy is brilliant when you really break down how it works, especially on the human psyche.  By merely mailing me a piece of paper 'gifting' me $10, they are attempting to influence my dining decision.  How powerful is that?  What also makes it a powerful strategy is the fact that the tickets had "expiration dates" on them.  I had three days before the rodeo tickets would be worthless and 30 days before my $10 gift certificate expired.  So what's the equation for success here?

Pulling Effect = Free Gift + Dollar Value + Time Limit 

Knowing this, how can you use this strategy to increase "traffic" to your business?

Victor Antonio, Sales Influence

Copyright © 2009 by Victor Antonio.   All rights reserved.  Author, speaker and sales trainer Victor Antonio has a BSEE, MBA and over 20 years of executive sales experience.  This article MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio at info@victorantonio.com.