One business method that is both a sure way to build customer loyalty and is also great for reaching out to new clients, is often overlooked. It is the concept of giving something away for free. For example, you can give away a trial size in the hopes of getting an order. If you have ever visited the food court in your local mall, you will have seen this method of giving put into practice rather aggressively. It doesn’t matter how many Asian or Chinese restaurants there are, they all offer you samples of their chicken in hopes of getting the sale. They know that if they give away enough samples, they will turn some of those taste testers into buyers. Those that sell cookies in the mall do the same thing. What’s better after eating some salty chicken, than a fresh chocolaty cookie.

If you go to the different cosmetic brands represented in stores like Macy’s, JC Penney, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue, they will offer trial sizes of makeup in an effort to get the sale. It’s also hard to walk through these stores without being offered the opportunity to test the latest men’s and women’s fragrances.

You may not be able to give away a sample of your product for your business. You may not even sell a product. If you have a service based business, you can give add-on services to the sale in an effort to close the deal. For example, if you have a steam cleaning business, you might offer to clean the stairs for free if a certain amount is spent by the customer.

When we purchased our car recently, the dealer threw in a free oil change and also offered to have the car cleaned again at their expense. I wouldn’t say that alone was enough to close the deal but it did make us feel better about the purchase. Some things that you can always give away and make a great lasting impression are smiles and kind words. These are free and can go a long way in making someone’s day better. Always remember that we do business with those that we like.

So, what can you give away?