Sometimes you have to give to earn!

I had the most amazing experience today and thought I would share as I feel it was a fantastic business strategy. Not to mention a very nice gesture.

I headed out in our small town this morning to find someone who could trim my bangs. I usually go to a particular hairdresser but today I just didn't want to drive that far for a little trim so I wandered into a hair salon I had never been to before. Upon arriving I realized that they did not accept debit and of course I never carry cash. I told them I would run across to the store and get cash back but they insisted that they were not worried about the money and that I could just stop in with it the next time I passed by. I couldn't believe it. They were really going to cut my hair and just let me leave. Of course I couldn't possibly just not pay so I made sure to bring the money with a tip back immediately.

The gesture made my day. I even shared the experience on Facebook where several other people in my community shared stories highlighting the generosity of this particular hairdresser. She has made quite a positive impact on her customers (I have discovered she has a lot of clients).

I can guarantee I will be going back and I will make sure I have cash with a generous tip. My lesson was that we can't make our businesses all about money. Sometimes we need to just put a little effort into helping others. I know it may be a little difficult through a website but I bet with a little imagination we could make this kind of impact on our visitors as well.

Any suggestions how we could woo our visitors with generosity? I know give aways is one idea.