Using Generosity and Gifts as a Business Strategy

The View From The Top with Aaron Walker

Welcome to the View from the Top podcast, Season 2. In today’s show Danny Sunshine Bauer and Aaron Walker discuss what place does giving and generosity have in your business?

As business leaders we are often looking for ways to scale, to serve more, and ultimately to increase the bottom line. But if you do your research and find something personal and meaningful, gift giving can set you apart from the pack. If you are ready to add gift giving and generosity as a winning part of your business strategy then continue listening. Up next … Aaron Walker interviews John Ruhlin, author of Giftology.

We hope you enjoy the podcast. All the highlights, resources, and next steps can be found below. Listen to the full episode here and learn more at viewfromthetop.com.

John Ruhlin-A Different Angle

John is the author of the book Giftology that ISI is studying right now and many of the guys in ISI want to give but they just don’t know how.

John grew up on a farm in Ohio milking goats before going to school every morning, is one of six kids and heated their house with wood. So John comes at this from a different angle than most. He pays homage of Giftology to one of his mentors who was an attorney (his girlfriend’s dad at the time). John’s life changed when he asked his mentor to buy pocket knives and he wanted engraved paring knives and he couldn’t figure out why paring knives.

“It was a lightning bulb moment, it wasn’t about the knives, it was about understanding the depth and psychology of relationship building and reciprocity.” - Danny Sunshine Bauer

Gratitude and Appreciation

“What Giftology is about at the core level is that everybody says that relationships are important but most leaders fall short and are not congruent with what they say and what they do action wise.” - John Ruhlin

Perception of the Recipient

Aaron discusses the perception of the recipient with John and the potential scenarios that people are thinking when given a gift. Whether it be what is he trying to get from me and dealing with government contracts and legalities of accepting gifts there will always be obstacles.

“When you give a gift and don’t ask for anything in return, people can sense your intentions. Usually I am acknowledging them for their time they have given to me.” - John Ruhlin

According to John, less than 1%, regardless of the reason for the gift it is rarely returned. With all of the policies, rules, etc. a gift that is tasteful, personalized and follows the agenda and mission the recipient usually accepts it as really thoughtful. It is an artifact of the relationship. John does say to stay away from government contracts-you don’t want to get anyone in trouble.

In Summary

Danny is hopeful you could see how powerful gift giving and generosity can be as a winning business strategy.

“Since learning this strategy I now budget 10% of total revenue for gifts. That challenges me to come up with a number of fun ways to express my gratitude to leaders I serve.” - Danny Sunshine Bauer

Gifts Danny has set in the past:

• Beautiful leather passport wallet and luggage tag
• Philly Eagles superbowl champion jersey
• Personalized golf balls
• Running watch
• Subscription to the NY Times Crossword
• Amazon Echo device to a tech enthusiast

Challenge: If you budgeted 10% of your revenue for gifts what would you like to send?

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Resources

Giftology by John Ruhlin

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