12-28-2015
Does “Pay it Forward” Apply in Business?
Dear House Rules,
In this season of giving, I pose a question to you. Does paying it forward help you grow your business or is this holistic approach / movie title, fiction that has no place in the competitive business world?
Sincerely,
What’s Actually the Gift of Giving?
Dear Gift of Giving,
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After surveying our immediate network, the overwhelming response was a huge YES to generous acts of intentional support for those around us. Here is one story we heard during our inquiry. I bet there are many more in your network and ask that you send them in. We’ll publish the best “Pay it Forward” story from each quarter in 2016. Can you say, “Challenge Accepted?”
“Last year I noticed a collection jar at the dental office with a note from a 10 year old boy asking for tin can tabs to raise money for his school. I was impressed that an elementary school student would think to reach beyond his network by engaging everyone who came through that office. In support of someone I had never met, I put out a collection can at our office and over the next 9 months, dropped off baggies filled with hundreds of tabs for the little boy. Last month I stopped by the dentist to drop off a rather large delivery of tabs and ran into a business contact there. He got a kick out of what I was doing and it spurred a conversation that led to an amazing sales lead.”
4 Benefits from Paying it Forward
1. Impress a business contact
2. Get an unexpected sales lead
3. Film an internet commercial
4. Get invited to a radio program
Good Karma
Talk about good karma.
As I pursued the new lead that happened to be associated with a local event, I met the industry promoter and got included in their internet promo that circulated online. I was able to link my current social media to that video and reap the rewards when it went viral. The positive response led to an invitation as a guest on a local radio program to further promote my business. Amazing how it all stemmed from the inspiration of one industrious child and my desire to lend support to someone I had never met. Imagine how the world would improve if we spent as much time helping others as we do tearing them down. The internet has become a venue for stirring up discontent comparable to a street riot. Let’s reverse that trend by beginning our own movement to share great “Pay it Forward” tales and create a “new normal” of working together for the greater good.