If your answer named an item, such as "light bulbs", your light bulb company will soon perish. If you named a service, such as "employee anti-shoplifting training", your time as a consultant is short-lived.

Light bulbs and employee training are products you provide. If you are to be successful, product cannot be what you sell to potential customers. What does your product provide to customer?

In other words, if you are an anti-shoplifting trainer, what benefit does your service provide for particular customer to whom you are selling?

"Oh, I get it ..." you might think, "I'm not selling employee anti-shoplifting training, I'm selling educated staff that training produces. Very clever gimmick, Mr. Delaney."

It all comes back to fact that most people are generous by nature. If you give a no-obligation gift or do a good turn for someone, more often than not, they'll feel compelled to repay you in kind.

This element of human nature can be effectively utilised in marketing.

For instance, you will experience far better results if you offer information obligation-free, as a starting point, instead of trying to sell something from a standing start.

Give them a taste of what you can do for them. Offer them a free eBook. A FREE trial. Let them experience product in action in an obligation-free way.

THEN - once they've tasted product, then ask them to buy.

The key is to provide a gesture that has no strings attached.

Here's an interesting story that offers a good example of law of reciprocation.

A property management client of mine was about to implement some exciting new changes in their systems and loyalty programs. Before they got stuck into those changes they wanted to know what their clients wanted.

We knew that by sending a conventional feedback form, we'd receive pretty dismal response because people are basically lazy. And we knew that if we made clients an offer for returning form, their responses would improve significantly.