Altruism Pays Off By Attracting More Customers

A recent article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram News, cited several businesses in the Dallas Forth Worth area that were offering free services or discounts to unemployed customers.

Sool Song of Custom Cleaners in Keller,TX ran an ad in the local newspaper offering free dry cleaning to anyone who had lost a job in this economy. Song was quoted in the article:

"Right now it is a very, very bad economy and some of my customers don’t have a way to make money," Song said. "Sometimes, they need to go to an interview or go to church and they need to dress up. I have to take care of them."

A local restaurant, Potager, in Arlington TX, has a “pay what you think the meal is worth” pricing policy. The restaurant owner hopes that these customers will not take advantage of this policy knowing that they contribute to the restaurant’s future. But Cynthia Chippendale, Potager’s owner believes in serving locally grown and seasonally available food on her menu, a concept that is sweeping the sustainable food trend in this country.

Even local auto dealers like Liberty Ford in Cleburne Texas, are offering to cover customers payments for up to a year, if they have lost a job.

Although his interventions were purely altruistic, Song discovered that his altruism paid off by attracting more customers.

Experts like, David Strutton, a professor of marketing at the University of North Texas, agree that altruism is good public relations by building relationships with their customers that have positive effects on the growth of the business.