Tricia and I were out to dinner recently. At the end of the night, after Tricia had paid the tab, the server (I’ll call her Maggie) was especially attentive. I’m sure you know, that’s not always the case. They have other tables, and those drink refills might be slow in coming. Especially after the bill is closed out.

Let me start by saying, at the beginning of the night we’d sat down and asked her to get us something which was no longer on the menu. It’d been a favorite appetizer we enjoyed at that restaurant in the past, but it’s been off the menu for a few years. Maggie went to the kitchen, and made it happen. You have to love when that happens.

Also during dinner, Tricia tried an Old Fashioned. She’d wanted to try one for a while, but ultimately didn’t like it. Nothing was wrong with it, it just wasn’t to her taste. Maggie decided not to charge for it, and brought her a different drink to replace the disagreeable one.

Maggie thanked us several times before we left, until I mentioned to Tricia that she must have tipped very well. Tricia smiled and admitted she’d tipped her $50, or just over 40%.

If she’d done a more standard 20%, the difference to us would have been $25, easy math right? Just an extra $25. Nothing substantial if you are billing well, but fifty bucks is a big deal when you are young and living off tips.

It was an easy Random Act of Kindness. One we talk about classes like Sales Science and Client Cornucopia. We try to do one a day. They don’t all require you to give money to strangers, but all of them come with an underlying power: Reciprocity.

When you do something nice for people, they are compelled to return the favor. You give kindness, and you get kindness. There’s nothing random about it.