What is the difference between Generosity and Reciprocity and why does this matter?
In simple terms and for the purposes of our work in sales and business, and maybe life in general:
Reciprocity
Is the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit. Think buying and selling and creating a fair exchange of value.
Generosity
Is the practice of giving something -time, money, food, kindness, advice, etc.- to people, usually, but not always, in need, without expecting something in return from the recipient of our generosity.
Seems pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? But we can get ourselves into all sorts of relationship tangles and create confusion if we are not clear about what our intentions are with others.
Where relationships fall down is when we find ourselves ‘giving things away’ like time, skills, ideas, products, etc. in sales and business without explicitly saying what we want in return, in the hope that others, somehow, understand that we want them to give us something back, like their custom, an agreement to work together, more sales, a referral, and so on.
People are not mind readers. They need it spelt out.
If we want something from someone in return for our services, good work, etc. we need to ask for it. We need to state it as part of the interaction.
In good business and sales interactions, we need to set up the terms for reciprocity to occur.
If we don’t state our intentions or requests clearly, then the other person is likely to think we are being generous and don’t require anything in return. So we can’t be disappointed if they don’t respond in kind.
Remember everybody lives by selling something.
Related topics
Listening beyond self interest to achieve a fair exchange of value
Why a Fair Exchange of Value goes beyond exchanging money for goods
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