You have one friend who is known to be especially thoughtful around the holidays and on birthdays. It is just her nature. She studies your tastes and lifestyle all year long and then picks the perfect gift for you. So what do you do when her birthday comes around? You probably give her a gift that is more generous than those you give other friends.
It's not guilt; it's people's innate sense of reciprocity. In much the same way that most people feel the world should be fair, we feel compelled to give back in proportion to what we receive.
The principle of reciprocity is applicable to the business world, too. The classic example is the one dollar bill included in the envelope of a survey sent by mail. Survey administrators found that response rates shot up when they paired their surveys with a one dollar bill. They gave something of value to the recipients, and the recipients reciprocated by completing and returning the survey.
Putting reciprocity tactics to work in your brokerage business can be achieved in many ways, and it doesn't mean you need to start buying each of your prospects a gift.
For instance, when interacting with clients, consider letting them know all that you are doing for them. You could proactively call each applicant every morning and cheerfully list off all the tasks you completed on their behalf in the pervious twenty-four hours: created a summary of their needs, researched funding options, sent them a credit application, clarified items on the application, pulled credit, refined the list of funding options, briefed your support staff, began discussions with their insurance agent, began discussions with the vendor, reviewed their local tax rates, contacted their accountant, etc.
When prospects understand all the work you have put into their transaction, they will be more likely to feel the urge to reciprocate by accepting your proposal and completing their tasks, like signing and returning paperwork. Let's face it - they are going to call you anyhow to discuss most of these items. Restructuring conversations to spotlight your investment requires very little extra effort, but can make a huge impact on your close rate.
You can imagine a similar situation when interacting with prospective vendors. A vendor may tell you their general financing needs and what needs aren't currently being met. You or your team can then step back, create a program for them, keep them advised of the steps you are taking, and then present a formal proposal. By communicating the effort you are investing, you create the desire for the vendor to reciprocate by sending business your way.
Conveying the level of effort you are investing in a relationship is no the only way to harness the reciprocity instinct. A well-placed compliment can also have a similar effect. While a prospect is telling you about his or her business, simply acknowledging his or her acumen and success or empathizing with his or her challenges can evoke the prospect's desire to reciprocate by sending you business. Sending newspaper and magazine clippings relevant to the prospect business or personal interests works too.
Maintaining existing vendor relationships can be aided by reciprocity tactics. You should continuously communicate all the things you have done because of your existing relationship - hired people, researched and secured funding sources, negotiated special programs, changed processes and procedures, not solicited their competitors' business, built special applications, visited their location, referred customers to them, etc. You want your vendor to know all that you have done so they are compelled to return the investment with their business and loyalty.
You shouldn't rule out more conventional methods of creating reciprocity scenarios. Giving something of value to a prospect without overtly connecting it to a return for you is a tried-and-true persuasive tactic. The benefit of reciprocity tactics over simple incentives is that they get your foot in the door without the prospect having the chance to decline. Unlike incentives which are only received if the customer says "yes" to an offer, reciprocity tactics dictate that you give the gift to the prospect without even asking whether she is interested. If you were to receive a sleeve of golf balls in the mail, you would be more likely to take a phone call from the sender. Likewise, if a salesperson told you that she had spent all weekend building a custom proposal presentation just for you, you would be more inclined to take the time to hear it.
To employ reciprocity tactics in your business, first think of things you already do that can be communicated in a way to create the prospect's desire to reciprocate. Then take a look at what other ways you can create the reciprocity scenario - from sending gifts, to delivering value-added services.
