The Secret Psychology
of “Obligation and Reciprocation”
Have you ever heard of the saying “I’ll scratch your back; you scratch mine”? Or have you ever had someone hold a door for you; allow you to pull out into traffic in front of them; or do something of value or nice for you?
And when they did that, didn’t you feel like returning the favor to THEM because of their nice gesture? Well, you’ve just experienced what I call “Obligation and Reciprocation.”
See there’s something interesting going on here that can put huge dollars in your pocket. Modern day culture has “programmed” us all to give back the kind of treatment we receive. We’re almost psychologically forced to behave this way.
Obligation and reciprocation occurs any time someone feels that they have received something of VALUE from you. And, interestingly, that “value” doesn’t have to be a dollar value.
It could be helpful information you share. It could be a funny joke (notice how any time a joke is shared others feel compelled to share a joke too? It’s that “Obligation and Reciprocation” thing again). Or it could even be a pleasant compliment you pay to someone.
Think about all the opportunities you have in your practice to give something of VALUE to your prospects and patients. And when you communicate to them HOW they can reciprocate, that’s exactly what they’ll do. Would you like a few ideas?
* A gift will almost instantly BOND your patients to you and make them feel obligated to use your services.
* Use Consumer Information Marketing in your practice. (Yes, offer Free Reports in your monthly newsletter!)
* Get into the habit of noticing the POSITIVE things about people, and COMPLIMENT them on it. It could be their good taste in clothes. It could be the car they drive. Their new posture. The
point is, RECOGNIZE and compliment people, and they’ll instantly be attracted to you (no, don’t patronize or “suck-up” to people, but be sincere with your compliments).
* Here’s an example that’s CRITICAL to use: Give your existing patients and leads (I call your “house list”) a WELCOMED, HELPFUL and VALUABLE contact gift each month. And in the process of giving that gift, you MUST also have it automatically programmed to “educate” your patients and leads HOW THEY CAN RECIPROCATE TO YOU (by referral, word of mouth, and repeat business). The cheapest, most effective, and easiest way to do this is by sending them my direct response newsletter. This gift to them will only cost you about $1.00 each month and includes inserts that show them exactly how to respond. Most of you are doing this, some of you are not. If that is the case, call our office and have Larry explain to you how our monthly patient and prospect newsletter works.
Best,
Ben Altadonna
