THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE "FREE" IN THE PROCESS OF GENERATING VALUE

29/04/2020



When I started the Association Imprenditore non Sei Solo, many fellow consultants and trainers criticized me because, giving free advice and training to entrepreneurs in difficulty, in their opinion I gave something to people who, receiving it for free, would not have appreciated it. Time has shown that this was not the case and the nearly 500 companies saved by the Association are testifying to this.


But what is fascinating is that the companies of all the volunteers, that is, of those who have made their time free of charge to help colleagues in crisis, during this period of "free help" have grown, often in an extraordinary way. And, note well, each volunteer has the absolute ban on up-selling to entrepreneurs that he helps, that is, he cannot sell his services to them.


I use this example to introduce a fascinating mechanism of value creation, linked to free, that is to give oneself to others.


Imagine that I am a professional who has no engagement and you are a person in difficulty who does not have the economic means to afford my services. If I tried to sell you something, I wouldn't generate any value because you wouldn't buy it anyway. In fact, I would have probably incurred expenses. If, on the other hand, I would help you for free, you would now be more effective (I created value) and I, in turn, having contributed to someone else's well-being, would be more motivated. Here now, compared to nothing that was before, I am more charged (and therefore more effective and predisposed to having the right intuitions) while you have become (unless you are crazy) an ambassador of my brand and my ally.


This explains one of the systems that many small and medium-sized enterprises used during this crisis to generate value despite being closed. "Call all customers - we told them - both active and inactive and ask them how they are and if you can do something for them. Then do it for free. You will see that sooner or later orders will start to arrive." I am not saying that it has worked constantly, but in several cases the results have been remarkable.


If you want to create something out of nothing, forget about yourself for a moment and try to contribute to others’ well-being. There is another facet, always linked to this aspect, more of a psychological type, which however also has great importance. In life things often happen to us based on our expectations. If we expect negative events, we will end up experiencing negative events. There is a whole book on this subject written by a Scottish psychologist, The Fortune Factor, which examines precisely the importance of individual expectations in generating one's luck or bad luck.


If I give, on a psychological level I am convinced-or at least I am convinced-that I can have! Which is a bit like the phrase: "I don't give because I am rich, but I am rich because I give".


If, on the other hand, during the narrowness, I don't give or contribute, I am convinced that in the future I will have even more narrowness. And this often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.


To conclude, if you want to create something out of nothing, you should be focused on contributing and, even if it seems absurd, you will magically see that things in your life will start to travel much more profitably.