Three for free
Posted by Troy Forrest on August 28th, 2009 at 11:49am
“A free lunch is only found in mousetraps.”
- John Capozzi
3 free experiences I had this past week;
- A restauranteur relaunching his business, offering a free come-try-our-new-menu lunch to a group of networked colleagues. Implied cost – if you like it, tell others, and come back to spend
- Two young ladies walking around the Unley Football Oval signing people up for a free raffle (win a footy!). Even though it was free, people were still reluctant. Unspoken potential cost – after the draw, they’ll sell my details to a timeshare holiday place who will harangue me in the middle of dinner. I don’t need a football that badly.
- Some clever professionals donating time & wisdom to speak at a forum I’m building. The sense-of-obligation cost of taking this free help – expose & endorse the generous parties, owe them a favour, create a forum worthy of their presence.
‘Free’ comes with different costs.
Consider what you have in your professional kit bag that you can offer your clients for free this week. Then decide what you’re really asking them to pay.
Do they understand the unspoken cost? Are they willing (or able) to pay it? Is your free stuff worth more to them than the cost? If you give it away and they don’t pay, has it cost you more than you can afford? How much do you need to recoup for the ‘free’ offer to have paid for itself?
Free can be cheesy, tacky, even sneaky. Or it can be value-adding, generously-sneak-previewing or a thanks-for-your-loyalty. The thing is though, it’s never really free, for you or the recipient. Understand the costs, overt or implied, and make sure that you’re both willing and able to pay them!
Posted in Insight, Marketing Strategy
