Free...Or is it?


The lure of getting something for free has led to an increase in companies, independent business owners, and those in direct sales offering free incentives to build their customer base, as well as their teams. But...are they really free?

 Consider this...

 You see an item online that says it's 100% free, yet when you get to checkout, you see a shipping and handling fee. You wasted time (time = money) going through the process to receive the item, and now have to choose to pay the fees or not receive it. Is the item really free? 

 You see free tickets offered for a concert or show, yet you must pay "taxes and a handling fee" before you receive them. Are the tickets really free? 

 You sign up for a service that offers "three months free", yet are charged a "deposit' within the first month. If you cancel, you don't get the deposit back. Is the service really free? 

 You're invited to a free networking event, yet there's a cost to everything once you arrive. Is the event really free?

 You sign up for a monthly subscription box that offers "free shipping", and find that free shipping is restricted to the higher cost subscription boxes, forcing you to choose the higher subscription in order to receive the free shipping offer. Is the shipping really free? 

 The answer to all of these questions should be a resounding NO...
When a product or service is Free, it means no out of pocket expense for you. Nothing. Zero. Nada. You should never be misled, expected to sign a long term commitment, made to feel obligated or pay even a small fee for what was offered for free. 

 Why? 
The experience matters...
Free and discounted products and service incentives work well to help recruit and build a customer base, as well as team members when they are included as a small part of the overall experience. By building relationships, trust, and loyalty first, which; by the way, is 100% free, the incentives are more likely to result in longer commitment and retention. There's value in the relationship and experience. 

 When an experience is designed simply to increase revenues and numbers, it can and most likely will fail fast and hard, with customers and team members moving quickly to the next "free" product or service incentive they see. Long term commitment and retention doesn't occur because no value is placed on the relationship or the experience.

 So...which experience would you prefer to have? Trusted relationship or "Free"?
Me? I'll choose a trusted relationship over free, every single time...





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