The words of wisdom are that “nobody does anything for nothing in this world”
We all know that many people won’t ask for help or admit that they need help in their personal lives. Maybe this is because they don’t want to be seen with a weakness, or they don’t recognise that they need some help, or they have no idea that help may be available.
But whatever the reason, there are many individuals who stoically “put up” with the status quo, or muddle through, take risks for themselves or just avoid getting something done because they don’t want to ask.
And when it comes to being offered help, the picture changes somewhat. There are still those who refuse to accept any offers of help – maybe call it pride or independence – but there is also a preparedness to allow assistance, albeit alongside a huge level of scepticism about why they’re being offered help. Could it be because they’re seen as vulnerable, or failures
Help me – I’m only human!
When an individual extends a helping hand, they often don’t know if people will grab onto it, especially if it’s offered for free. How likely are people to accept that helping hand, and does it differ based on their age or the complexity of the task?
Surprisingly, it’s been shown that most people are open to accepting free help when it’s offered. In fact, a recent estimate found that 75% of individuals were willing to accept assistance without any cost attached; which implies that the majority of people are happy to receive support when it’s freely given.
But does age play a significant role in whether people accept free help?
Yes, it does. Younger individuals, aged 18 to 30, were most open to accepting assistance, with maybe 82% welcoming it. Possibly younger people are more accustomed to seeking help online or from peers.
At the other end of the spectrum, older adults, aged over 60, were also still quite receptive, with an estimate of 67% being prepared to accept free help. This could be because they appreciate the value of community support, having experienced times when people relied more on each other for assistance.
Now, what if the help offered involves technical knowledge beyond someone’s understanding? Not surprisingly, even in these situations, a significant number of people are willing to accept assistance. When faced with a task requiring technical know-how beyond their comprehension, 63% of people would still accept the free help offered.
So, whether it’s a young person grappling with a new challenge or an older adult navigating unfamiliar technology, the majority of individuals seem willing to accept a helping hand when it’s offered for free. This highlights the kindness and openness of people to support one another, regardless of age or technical expertise.
Personal aid or corporate help?
However, are people more inclined to accept help if it’s offered by an individual rather than by a business? Let’s consider whether there’s a difference based on who offers the helping hand.
The same indications are that 75% of people would be willing to accept help when offered, regardless of whether it’s from a person or a business.
Age, however, does appear to influence the preference between personal and corporate help. Younger individuals, aged 18 to 30, are more likely to favour assistance from individuals, with 85% indicating they would accept help from a person. This could be attributed to a desire for a personal connection or a sense of trust in peer assistance.
Conversely, older adults, aged over 60, indicate a slight preference for help from businesses, with 72% prepared to accept assistance from a company. Maybe this stems from a perception of reliability and professionalism associated with corporate aid.
When faced with a task requiring technical knowledge beyond their comprehension, people’s willingness to accept help varies based on the source. When the assistance is offered by an individual, 64% of respondents are likely to accept it. However, if the help comes from a business, the acceptance rate drops slightly to 59%.
While personal connections may influence some, others find comfort in the expertise and professionalism of corporate assistance. Regardless of the source, the willingness to accept help underscores the human inclination towards cooperation and support.
Business to Business Battles
The purpose of the above is to test the degree of acknowledgment that we as individuals sometimes need some help.
So, whilst individuals appear to be willing to take help if it’s offered, regardless of whether it’s for personal or technical matters, will businesses ask for or accept free help as willingly?
Let’s examine some more.
What is “free”?
The definition of “free” depends on your viewpoint.
In the main, anything that doesn’t have a monetary value, that we don’t have to spend cash on would be considered as “free”. In our own definitions, we often tend to overlook some other factors which are actually a cost to us, such as our time and energy. Many free offerings require us to invest our time and learning effort in order to be able to take advantage of whatever we receive. Decisions about whether to accept something that appears to be free do sometimes take this into account, but usually at a lower priority and without actually quantifying it; it’s more of a feeling than a balance sheet.
From the point of view of the business making a free offer, it most certainly is not cost-free or time-free for them. What they are offering has both a tangible cost, and a potential value to them. But that value may not necessarily be for monetary return or commercial gain, as I’ll reference later in the article. Tangible costs will include the means to deliver it to the recipient, so there are hidden costs associated with this.
Is a free service or offer poorer quality?
There are times when things are offered for free because they are rejects or substandard and the business making the offer would rather people get some benefit from them as made articles (generally relates to products rather than services). However, regulations must still be met for safety, even if aesthetics are not to standard.
Services and advice must still adhere to professional standards and regulations, regardless of whether they are provided for a fee or not, so any offer of a free service must meet the same conditions – and as it should do anyway, because if it’s a demonstration of what you could experience under a paying contract, there’s no point making a free offer that represents a substandard.
There are possibly times (and I’m prepared to be challenged on this) that a someone in a business offers some free support, help or service as an individual. If that if given on behalf of the business, or uses the assets and resources of that business, then the offering business must still adhere to regulations and carry the same liability. It’s an area for businesses to be really clear about!
Why might something free be worth less?
With a culture of suspicion that abounds, almost the first reaction is that a giveaway is primarily because someone else doesn’t want it, so if you’re prepared to give it away, it’s much the same as sending it to the trash, so it’s of nil value. Another thought can be that if a business needs to give something away, it’s because no-one else values it either, and aren’t prepared to spend money on it.
And this is odd, because in domestic (and sometimes commercial) settings, if a business has something like food that’s at risk of being thrown away, suddenly there’s a stampede of people who feel they have a need for those items.
An item or service that is offered for no charge and also offered at a commercial rate is still the same value to the company that produces it, and it’s still perceived as having the same or better value if the price is reduced by negotiation.
So what is it about something that is offered for nothing that devalues it so much?
Relationships matter
When any company makes contact with an offer of something for free – be it an item, a service or just help – the first instinct is “Who are you?”. If an offer has come completely out of context, then how do you trust that the offer is genuine and in good faith?
If it’s for something that you might want, or could be relevant, then you could spend some time doing a bit of research, but more often than not you just ignore, and my poll shows that most business people would take this option. What right does this company have to tell you what would be good for you?
If, however, someone who know of approaches you with an offer of something free, then you’re much more likely to consider it longer.
What’s the motivation?
The reason why a business might make a free offer can vary.
Mostly, the motivation is a commercial marketing one; the offer is a lead magnet or encouragement to make a connection, use a product or service and follow into buying from that business. That business wants to generate more cash-generating business and while they’re not totally indiscriminate, they are targeting a group of potential clients. The value to you as a recipient would be that it addresses a problem or need you have. The value to that business is that it starts off a transactional relationship and may generate some revenue.
You are at liberty to decline or ignore, and that’s factored into the offer in any case.
Sometimes a product or service is offered at no charge because the company is testing out a new product or service. In terms of being “free” this isn’t. No money changes hands, but there is an onus on you to provide feedback and spend some time with that product or service.
Sometimes an offer to help is made because the offering company perceives a problem and is willing to help you overcome it. This is far more specific, because they’ve actually identified something (which you may or may not have) that they strongly believe they can resolve for you. The value to them is that they have the potential to build an empathetic relationship which also may generate some revenue, but because it’s so targeted, the probability is lower. However the value to you is likely to be far greater for your business and it demonstrates an understanding of your business along with showcasing the offering company’s values.
Occasionally, a free offering may be made for altruistic or corporate social responsibility reasons. It’s hard to separate these from our suspicions if we don’t share the same beliefs, but there are businesses out there who genuinely just want to help and support, and you’ll often find these business also providing voluntary help to schemes such as Help to Grow as mentors and coaches.
Should we accept help for free? LinkedIn Poll
The purpose of the poll was to find out what the inclination was to accept free help from another business. The question was focused on how easily a business would allow help to be provided and from whom.
We’ve already looked at what the motivation behind making these offers might be, but let’s look at the psychology behind accepting them.
“No – I never need help” – 9%
A business that operates without ever needing any sort of help is a rare beast. The greater likelihood is that someone who says they don’t need help is actually saying they don’t want help. This could be due to confidentiality reasons or they already have a crack in-house team, or they’re unaware of anything that is amiss and they’re happy with the status quo. However automated and perfect a business is, there are always factors that will disrupt and require some assistance.
Any business that declares that they don’t need (want) help will make arrangements for themselves – even though they’re still relying on some support, but we won’t tell them that!
I didn’t expect any responses to indicate that they never need help, but polls are there to correct assumptions!
“No – it’s probably a scam” – 36%
If it’s being offered the assumption is that it’s for someone else’s benefit, not mine.
Businesses are people who deal with other people, so trust and relationships form a huge part of how they work. When a business offers to provide something for nothing, there’s a natural suspicion that there’s a catch or that it’s entirely for that other company’s immediate financial gain. It’s too good to be true.
And unfortunately, this can too often be the case.
However, the results indicate that businesses are more cautious than individuals and that an offer of free help or support is quite likely to be ignored.
This may be because businesses operate in a more regulated way, with more checks and reviews than for individuals. Signing up for a free offer or taking delivery of an item for use in the office will often be quickly “managed” so that the impact is checked before any damage is done.
If you’ve received and used these offers before and found they don’t deliver what was promised and what you expected, then you’re more likely to view offers of help from other businesses with scepticism.
And that’s a shame, but understandable.
It can be difficult for a genuine offer of targeted help to stand above those generic “I can fix your ****” offers, where **** could be anything they decide. There are companies who may have something that would be of benefit to you, but you’ve not yet had a conversation with them.
If you have a particular need, or a company offers some help that resonates with you, my advice would be don’t dismiss it out of hand, but examine whether that need is important enough for you to pursue. If it is, then you’ve already got a reason to at least talk with that business, as they’ve shown they at least have some understanding of your world.
“Yes, but as it’s free, it won’t be any good” – 0%
The belief that if something is free it won’t be of value or that it’ll be of poor quality seems to be something that the business community does not buy into – possibly opting instead to treat any offer, unsolicited or otherwise, as too much risk to spend any time considering.
Interesting that this contrasts with the perception of individuals who may have low expectations but will take up an offer.
I expected more responses for this option.
“Hell, yes, any help I can get” – 55%
Where free advice, help, or support is offered, there is still an appetite to take what’s available if it would be of use to a business.
This often manifests itself in the adoption of business growth programmes offered by local growth hubs and LEPs. The majority of these are at no cost to the business and often come with training sessions business analysis options and grant funding. Because they are usually segmented into categories of help rather than specific support around the business they can be a bit opportunistic, in that the target business sees a need at some future stage or is just interested in a particular area.
I should point out that these programmes aren’t free in the full sense because they require a commitment by the recipient business to spend time and effort into engaging with the provider. Recipient companies are also aware that the providers aren’t actually providing the support for free anyway; the support package is funded centrally, so it’s the taxpayer who ultimately pays for that.
Does that make a difference to the perception of free support?
Well, yes it will.
These programmes are offered by the authority of local and central government so are perceived to be expert and of value. Also, because they are not part of a marketing campaign, they take on an aura of authenticity over the offering from independent businesses, even though the likelihood is that there’s not a great deal of difference in the resulting quality.
Where growth programmes and independent help will diverge is that the former is structured as a deliverable product without a great deal of customisable support towards the business, whereas an independent offering will have more leeway to focus on the specific business problems and needs. There are also business reputations to consider.
Unfortunately the poll was not able to discern the difference between provider types, so the actual reasoning for taking free help may not be precise.
Conclusion
Whether to accept free help from another business is fairly evenly split between declining on the basis of it being unsolicited or scam, and for accepting it because it is available for free.
This can’t direct any particular decision to accept it or reject it, but the essential considerations when receiving an offer of free help is to consider:
· Is it something I conceivably need?
· Does the offer appear to understand my pain?
· Do I know the company making the offer?
· How much will this offer actually cost in time and effort?
Given that there is a natural inclination to accept help when it’s offered, we shouldn’t automatically assume that because it’s being offered for free that it’s insincere.
It warrants further exploration and you’ll probably gain lots in that discovery too.
As an Engineering Detective, I find there are too many smaller businesses who won’t resolve problems that are reducing their bottom line, creating frustration and limiting how they can grow because they don’t know who to turn to, or they feel they can muddle through, or they aren’t even aware that they have a problem!
What’s more frustrating is that even when they’re offered the chance to at least identify how to deal with some of their problems, they feel they’re too busy to even have a short conversation!
It doesn’t mean loss of control and it doesn’t mean new obligations.
But it could mean you get time back to do the things you wanted to.
Let’s have a conversation! Make a connection now!