Every culture on the planet seems subject to this law: It’s the law of reciprocation. The rule says that when people do us a favour, we feel obligated to give something back in return.

Even our language reflects this rule: when we say, “I owe you one” or “much obliged”, we really do mean it, don’t we?

I think every one of us has experienced the force of this rule at some point in our lives. To give you an example: just the other day, I asked for some advice on a marketing forum, and offered a small cash reward for a quick answer. (I find cash rewards always seem to bring out the best in people!)

I got the answer I needed, and asked the person where I should send their cash reward. Rather than sending him the money, he asked me to sign up to some email project instead. My sense of obligation kicked in, and so I dutifully complied.

It was only immediately afterwards that I felt the sense of irony - here was me, a master at “Internet Influence Magic”, being held to the law of reciprocity! Not that I minded signing up - it was free, after all. But I didn’t sign up so much out of desire as out of obligation. Nevertheless, I signed up.

Now, I don’t know if, as you read that last paragraph, you started to realize the incredible importance of reciprocation to your selling efforts. This law of reciprocation has massive implications for your marketing - you just might not be aware of them all yet. Don’t worry, as you read this blog, you will be!

For instance, in the next post I’ll show you how one company used this law of reciprocation to achieve an amazing 76% response to a survey they sent out. Are you getting that kind of response? If not, you’ll definitely want to see how they did it.

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