OMG Digital Magazine | 321 | Thursday 9 August 2018 • PAGE 6
SoulFood
GIVING WITHOUT EXPECTATION by GARY VAYNERCHUK
By now , most of you know both my business and content strategy from Jab , Jab , Jab , Right Hook . I like to give as much as I can up front before I muster up the audacity to go in for the “ ask .” But , although this is my go-to philosophy , it doesn ’ t always work , and that ’ s perfectly okay . It ’ s just the way of life , and I think we can all agree that being a good person on the upfront is always the best option regardless of what the potential “ payout ” might be .
One of my favorite stories from the Wine Library days is when I went out of my way in the middle of a snowstorm to deliver a case of low-end wine during the holidays . Now , did I have to do it ? Did I really need that one-bottle sale ? From a profit standpoint , no . But I valued my customer , wanted to show my appreciation , and also wanted to show my employees how we should be approaching our customer relations . And so , that ’ s what I decided to do .
Turns out a few weeks later that same customer ’ s seemingly wealthy son gave me a call and placed a MASSIVE order with us . Did I know that was going to happen ? Of course not . And would it have happened regardless ? Maybe . But that doesn ’ t matter .
What matters is that I went out of my way to put my customer first and , in the end , it ended up working out in my favor too . Regardless of what she did after or who she told , I felt good about myself . Sometimes there ’ s a dividend and many times there ’ s not , but that should never stop you from doing the right thing first .
Relationships are everything to me . Whether it ’ s with the friends and family that you grew up with or the unsuspecting connections that wind up changing the course of your life , fostering relationships is paramount to guiding the ways our lives unfold . And just like in business , in order to build and maintain those relationships , there needs to be a value exchange . For me , I prefer to give 51 % of the relationship . I like that leverage . It might sound dark , but that ’ s just the way I roll and I think there ’ s tremendous value in having that outlook .
In order to build any type of relationship that gives you the air cover to be able to ask for something down the line , you should always be the one providing the value upfront . You might not always get what you ask for , but at the end of the day , the absolute worse case scenario is that you had a positive impact on somebody through your actions , and as a human , that should just make you feel good .
Take my content for example . I ’ m blessed to be living in a time where I can communicate my story to so many of you and I am incredibly humbled that you take the time out of your day to consume my content . But the truth is that I don ’ t need to do it . I know that I probably won ’ t make a sale every time I put out an article like this . I don ’ t expect to . But as long as I have even one listener , reader , or follower , I ’ m going to continue to give because my intentions are pure and I know the effect it has on so many of you . ( And quite frankly , I just like the way it makes me feel .)
That ’ s the key when trying to foster any relationship . Because as much as you might give and although you might feel as if you ’ re owed something , you ’ re not . Giving means to give without expectation – to give based on someone else ’ s needs without assuming something will come back to you in return . So in order for this jab-right hook scenario to play itself out , you need to understand that nobody owes you anything . This understanding and lack of expectation allows me to be comfortable providing 51 % of the relationship , because in having zero expectations and not assuming someone will reciprocate on the other end , I ’ ve got everything to gain .
When you put others in front of yourself , whether intended or unintended , things just happen . It ’ s magical . Be it in life or business , I implore you to always seek to be the giver first . If you can give without expectation , you ’ ve got everything to gain . It ’ s not an easy trait to acquire but it ’ s certainly something I advise everyone to work towards . Not only will it make you feel good , but it ’ ll provide you the leverage that you can utilize if the opportunity comes knocking .