Free Means Nothing
Simon Lewis ??
Former Sunday Times journalist, turned recruitment community leader. High performance ?? . Mindset ??. Enjoy the journey ??
Few things have value without financial or emotional attachment.
But we live in a world where social and economic environments are pushing a new level of expectation.
We need to be convinced to pay. We’ve become budget-seeking cynics.
“How much does it cost?” is one of life’s most used phrases.
When what we should be asking is, “What will I receive in return for my investment?”
And as always in life, the answer will be relative to needs, values, and outlooks.
Financing a Ferrari, for example, is different to cashing a Qashqai. Different values in every sense of the word.
Cheap or free doesn’t always mean lower quality, of course. But it often does. Yet, we continue to be attracted by the discounts, the freebees, the low-cost solutions that makes us grin at the saving.
“Buy 2, get 1 free!”
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“Spend ￡500 and get a free gift worth ￡100!”
“Apply for a free membership TODAY!”
“Free product sample!”
Most of us have been drawn in by the offer of something that’s free, attracted by the instant gratification and cash-keeping. But most of us also know that this is a short-term 'win'. Psychologists consider most free items come with high value but low expectations. If it’s being given away it must be good, but if it doesn’t work it doesn’t matter.
Very quickly, we're left with a white elephant that serves only to clutter our already littered lives.
And that’s because, ultimately, we don’t value free. It becomes meaningless.
Social media, mobile apps, business tools, membership organisations, for example, may begin as free and garner early enjoyment for product and customer, but with no financial or emotional involvement interest quickly wains when something else shiny shimmers in the sidings.
So, next time you ask for a free trial, ask yourself if it’s worth it. Chances are all it will do is waste a lot of time and energy. And that’s because, unless you’re truly invested, it will have no value at all.
Improving the performance and results of recruiters and hiring managers through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training, eLearning and advisory services.
2 年Interesting perspective - when I launched Diversity in Recruitment I committed to a pro bono version of my entire five module inclusive recruitment training programme, totally free for charities, several months later I had to end it! Although some attended the training (and we had an amazing time) I had a 75% drop out rate, I think the last one I ran two people showed up. In the end I just couldn’t justify blocking out 5 half days for such low numbers - it was massively disappointing. This gives me real food for thought, was the assumption that free meant rubbish? Low quality? Not worth committing to perhaps - a sad reality.