Business is all about profit, and sales training can help create that profit. But sometimes profit opportunities are built in the long-term rather than the short-term (despite shareholders' and others' strong desire for immediacy).

Building goodwill with your customer base is an excellent business building activity. Depending upon the specifics, the return can be immediate, but it is most often delayed due to consumers' preference for experiencing multiple acts of goodwill. I believe we can all do a better job of tuning into opportunities for sharing goodwill with our customer base and prospect communities.

If you have a retail store, might there be a non-profit group that could use your store for a meeting or special event? (Perhaps a district meeting once a month at 8:00 am before your store opens?). Find someone who could use your real estate and offer it to them.

If you have a restaurant, hold a cooking class after (or before) hours. Foodies would love it. You already have the restaurant; couldn't you afford to develop raving fans with a 90 minute cooking class once per quarter? (Does anybody detect some PR opportunity here?)

If your company installs products in customers' homes, how about offering to pick up gently used clothing and contribute it to a local charity? Your installation crew and its vehicle is already at the house, would it be terribly difficult to pick up 2 or 3 bags of clothes and drop them to an organization like Goodwill? And could your installers knock on one or two neighbors of your customer asking if they have anything to contribute?

Goodwill can build a strong following. 

How good is your goodwill?

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Sales Trainer and Speaker Skip Anderson is the founder of Selling to Consumers, a consulting
company whose clients are companies and individuals who sell to
consumers (in-home selling, retail, financial/real estate, etc.). Get
free Selling to Consumers email sales tips in your inbox.