Giving gains, or does it?

"Givers gain" is a phrase we often hear in the world of networking. The organisation BNI seem to have it as one of their major philosophies. On the surface it all sounds very good. Very noble and worthy. But is there any substance to it? Well it seems the answer to that is yes, there is. Robert Cialdini is an American psychologist and is considered as the world's leading authority on influence and persuasion. Recently I was reading about him and came upon this information with regards to "returning a favour". The custom of returning a favour is found in every culture. The custom of repaying anything that is given to us be it a compliment, a favour or a gift. We feel obligated to even if we don't like the giver very much so it seems. Cialdini talks of the tactic used by the Hare Krishna movement to give flowers or books to people on the street. Once given most people feel the obligation to give some money in return whether they want the gift or not. I am sure most of us have had mailings from charities through our door appealing for donations. It is a fact that charities get more in return if they include a small gift such as a pen in the initial mailing. You could, of course, say no to the gift but how many of us do, or would and because we can't, or won't say no, we feel obligated to give something back in return. So how as business people could we make use of this? Well there are plenty of businesses that provide gifts such as pens and keyrings on which you could have your name and contact details printed. At your next networking meeting why not give some out. If you are a printer, print some address labels for each of the members. If a graphic designer rough up some new logos. There are many ways that each of us, regardless of our work, can make use of this trait and gain from giving.