An MSP in San Diego offered a beach bag of quality goods to a small, highly qualified list of IT leaders and booked appointments with at least 80% of the prospects they targeted. That is what a gift-with-appointment offer, or ethical bribe, can do when three conditions are met: precise targeting so unqualified prospects stay under 1% to 2% of the list, a gift good enough to actually move someone, and a real reason to take the meeting. Miss any of the three and the offer costs more than it returns, because you still have to fulfil on every freebie hunter it attracts.
A while back I received a sponsored LinkedIn message from a vendor in our space offering me a gift in exchange for taking a meeting.
This type of “ethical bribe” offer is not new but one that seems to be making a comeback, given I’ve seen multiple companies doing this recently. Essentially, you “bribe” the prospect to accept a meeting, attend an event, make a purchase or take some other action.
Like any marketing tactic or strategy, if you don’t use it right, it will fail. But when this type of offer fails, it stings harder due to a) the extra cost associated with fulfilling the offer, and b) the higher response rate from unqualified prospects just looking for a freebie.
That said, I do like this “gift with appointment,” provided you do a few things to ensure you get a good ROI.
Let me be precise about what this replaces, because it is not outreach itself. You still build a list and you still contact people. What it eliminates is the cold part: the pitch to a stranger who has no reason to care, which is the thing that makes prospecting miserable and makes prospects avoid you. Lead with something worth having and a specific promise, and the same conversation stops being a cold call and starts being an offer.
That is the difference between the campaign below, which booked 80% of a targeted list, and the salesperson asking to buy you a coffee.
Rule 1: Be Ruthless About Who Receives It
First, you need to be VERY intentional about who you put a gift-with-appointment offer in front of.
Bad targeting will deliver a bunch of unqualified non-buyers you now must fulfill on, and that can get pricey, not to mention the work involved in organizing it and the frustration it imparts on your sales team who are dealing with them.
In the case of the message I received, I’m obviously not a viable prospect for them, so their targeting was off.
In every campaign, there’s almost always a small percentage of non-qualified prospects that shouldn’t be on the list, but that number should be SMALL, as in less than 1% to 2% of the entire list.
This is the rule that separates a profitable ethical bribe from an expensive one. Every other kind of campaign can absorb sloppy targeting, because a wasted email costs you nothing. Here, every wrong name on the list is a physical gift you are obligated to send.
Rule 2: The Gift Has To Be Good Enough To Move Someone
Second, the gift must be good enough to get someone to take action.
Many cheap and stupid salespeople attempt to get appointments with me by offering to buy me a coffee. I’m sure you’ve seen this as well. It’s a TERRIBLE offer because it’s SO cheap it’s insulting, and it’s often not tied to a promise of what they can do for us.
Example: “Robin, I’m in Nashville next week and would love to buy you a coffee to learn more about how we might collaborate.”
As if.
In the past, we’ve used an “IT Services Pricing” mug as a gift with application. It works well because it’s a funny mug that everyone wants. I lifted the idea from an old marketing magazine no longer being published that offered a customized mug with your paid subscription. The mug was personalized, and read, “Robin Robins: Marketing Genius,” with an image that made it look like a headline in a magazine. Obviously, they personalized the name to the subscriber, but that gift with purchase gave them a big boost in sales.
The campaign that booked 80%
An MSP client based in San Diego gave away a really nice beach bag of goodies that included a nice tote, beach towel, Ray-Ban sunglasses, a Yeti-type bottle, sunscreen and a few other items as a gift with appointment.
It worked like gangbusters.
They targeted a small and highly qualified list of IT leaders at larger companies in their area, and secured appointments with at least 80% of the people they prospected.
Often, even when they didn’t move forward, the reciprocity of the gift caused the prospect to be a lot more transparent and truthful about budgets and timelines.
Read that last part again, because it is the underrated benefit. Even the prospects who said no gave better information than they otherwise would have, which makes the whole list more valuable going forward.
What about the cheap version?
I have seen free pizza used, which is interesting because it ties into a “lunch and learn” promo. Does it work? Well, like everything, you test.
I suppose to the right audience with the right topic it might. For example, this might be good for their unconverted leads. A WARM lead.
It might not land well with a new prospect because they don’t really explain what they do, and something like “Get a taste of faster IT” is meant to be clever, but you want CLARITY not cuteness when attempting to prospect.
Which brings me to the next point.
Rule 3: You Still Have To Sell The Appointment
Third, you still need to “sell” the demo, appointment or purchase. The gift gets attention. It does not close the meeting.
Here’s a proven formula:
“Give me X minutes, and I guarantee I can Y.”
Some examples:
- “Give me 30 minutes, and I guarantee I can show you how to cut at least $10,000 in IT costs without sacrificing speed, reliability or security.”
- “Give me 60 minutes, and I guarantee I can show you six ways to double sales without spending a dime on marketing.”
- “Give me 30 minutes, and I’ll show you how to eliminate your crippling dependency on highly skilled engineers while increasing productivity and profitability in your upstream oil and gas company.”
You get the idea.
Notice what the formula does. It caps the time, so the prospect knows exactly what they are agreeing to. And it names a specific, valuable outcome, so the meeting has a reason to exist beyond your quota. The gift is what gets them to read the sentence. The promise is what gets them to book.
The Bottom Line On Ethical Bribe Offers
Ethical bribe offers DO work, if targeted to the right audience with the right bribe and tied to a very good sales process.
But this is not something you can half-ass.
Get the list wrong and you pay to entertain people who will never buy. Cheap out on the gift and you insult the people you wanted. Skip the promise and you have bought attention with nothing to convert it into.
Get all three right and 80% of a small, well-chosen list will sit down with you.
If you want help building prospecting campaigns that actually book appointments with the clients you want, that is what my MSP sales training is built for.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an ethical bribe in marketing?
An ethical bribe is an offer where you give a prospect something of value in exchange for taking an action, such as accepting a meeting, attending an event or making a purchase. In sales prospecting it is usually called a gift-with-appointment offer. It is not new, but it has been making a comeback. Done properly it produces exceptional appointment rates. Done badly it costs more than it returns.
Do gift-with-appointment offers actually work?
Yes, when they are targeted properly. One MSP offered a beach bag containing a tote, towel, Ray-Ban sunglasses, a Yeti-type bottle and sunscreen to a small, highly qualified list of IT leaders at larger companies in their area, and booked appointments with at least 80% of the people they prospected. Even prospects who did not move forward were more transparent about budgets and timelines because of the reciprocity the gift created.
Why do gift-with-appointment offers fail?
Three reasons. Bad targeting, which delivers unqualified people you are now obligated to send gifts to, at real cost and real frustration for your sales team. A gift too cheap to motivate anyone. Or no actual reason given for the meeting itself. When this type of campaign fails it stings harder than most, because you are paying to fulfil on every freebie hunter it attracted.
How much should I spend on a gift-with-appointment offer?
Enough that it genuinely motivates action. Offering to buy someone a coffee is a terrible offer because it is so cheap it is insulting, and it is usually not tied to any promise of what you can do for them. Because the gift has real cost, spend the money on a small, precisely targeted list rather than spreading a cheap gift across a large one.
How targeted does my list need to be for this to work?
Very. In any campaign a small percentage of unqualified prospects will slip through, but that number should stay under 1% to 2% of the entire list. Unlike email, where a wasted send costs nothing, every wrong name here is a physical gift you must fulfil. This is the single rule that determines whether the campaign is profitable.
How do I sell the appointment itself?
Use this formula: “Give me X minutes, and I guarantee I can Y.” For example, “Give me 30 minutes, and I guarantee I can show you how to cut at least $10,000 in IT costs without sacrificing speed, reliability or security.” It works because it caps the time commitment and names a specific valuable outcome, so the meeting has a reason to exist. Aim for clarity, not cuteness.
Should I offer to buy a prospect coffee to get a meeting?
No. It is one of the most common and least effective approaches in sales. It is too cheap to feel like a real offer, and it is almost always paired with a vague reason like wanting to learn more about how you might collaborate, which gives the prospect nothing. If you are going to offer something, make it worth having and attach a specific promise to the meeting.
