Reciprocation. It is pretty simple really, if you do something for someone, they feel that they need to reciprocate. For McCafe’s it is really easy because when the customer gets their free coffee or free latte they feel obligated to buy something. All those obligations add up to increased same store sales for the chain.
The bonus of course is that if you can alter a customer’s current behavior you can create a long term customer. Very few businesses have the resources to undertake such a project, much less sustain it. You can however undertake a much less ambitious project with some pretty outstanding results.
Reciprocation, use it wisely.
