By Doug Stephens<\/p>\n

Generosity: noun~ Willingness to give or share; unselfishness<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n

All successful relationships are underpinned by generosity<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

The willingness to give or share without expectation of repayment is central to healthy, human interaction.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter what you give.\u00a0 It can be your time, your praise or simply your attention but without generosity, relationships tend to vanish in a cloud of selfishness and resentment.<\/p>\n

This is equally, if not more true with business relationships.\u00a0 Long-term success in retail comes down to fundamental beliefs with respect to the whole concept of generosity.\u00a0 Specifically, you either believe that generosity is almost always rewarded<\/em> or almost always abused<\/em>.<\/p>\n

You can easily spot businesses that believe the latter.\u00a0 They\u2019re the ones that have you deposit a quarter to use their shopping cart.\u00a0 The ones that refuse refunds without a receipt. Those who link any charity work they do to a sales goal or promotion.\u00a0 They cut the holiday employee turkey to save a few dollars. And you probably can\u2019t use their restrooms either. \u00a0All because their belief system suggests that generosity is something that is abused and taken advantage of. \u00a0As the English poet Alexander Pope wrote \u201c…all looks yellow to the jaundiced eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rare businesses, however, take the contrary view.\u00a0 These businesses believe that the simple act of giving \u2013 whether to customers, employees or the communities they operate in is simply the right thing to do \u2013it\u2019s just good karma<\/em>.\u00a0 They provide their employees with great places to work, their patrons with great places to shop and their communities with businesses that give back.\u00a0 They regard customers as people \u2013 not mere transactions<\/em>.\u00a0 Employees are part of the team \u2013 not simply headcount<\/em>. \u00a0\u00a0They give based on the belief that people are basically good and that their generosity will indeed be repaid \u2013 if not today then tomorrow and if not tomorrow then someday.<\/p>\n

The unfortunate thing is that generosity is no guarantee of success. \u00a0Indeed, some of the most successful businesses in the world are also the greediest. \u00a0 \u00a0The consolation, however, \u00a0is that only those businesses who give generously will leave a positive impression on the world.\u00a0 And perhaps that\u2019s the\u00a0truest\u00a0definition of success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Doug Stephens Generosity: noun~ Willingness to give or share; unselfishness All successful relationships are underpinned by generosity. The willingness to give or share without expectation [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[72,50,46,24,15,45],"class_list":["post-4693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-customer-experience","tag-customer-service","tag-marketing","tag-retail","tag-retail-marketing","tag-strategy-3"],"yoast_head":"\n