Why Generosity Builds More Referrals Than Strategy | FOCB Feat. Alan “Dutch” Kerr

What if one of the biggest drivers of business growth isn’t strategy…

but generosity?

In this episode of From Overlooked to Consistently Booked, Meaghan Chitwood wraps up the month-long conversation with Alan “Dutch” Kerr of Swipe for a Cause by exploring why generous businesses build stronger relationships, deeper trust, and more consistent referrals.

Because people remember businesses that genuinely care.

In This Episode, We Cover:

•  Why generosity creates stronger referral relationships 
•  How giving builds trust faster than selling 
•  Why customer service is one of the most generous things a business can offer 
•  The connection between curiosity, generosity, and retention 
•  Why asking for help is actually a strength 
•  How generosity creates long-term business growth 
•  The difference between transactional networking and relationship-building 
•  Why service-driven businesses stand out in crowded industries 

Key Takeaway

Generosity in business isn’t just about money.

It’s about:

•  Time 
•  Attention 
•  Availability 
•  Curiosity 
•  Relationships 

Dutch shares how approaching business with the mindset of:
 “What can I give?”

changes conversations, referrals, customer loyalty, and ultimately business growth. 

One of the Most Powerful Ideas in This Episode

People want to help.

Which means:

•  Asking for help creates connection 
•  Giving help builds trust 
•  Receiving help strengthens relationships 

And over time, those relationships compound into stronger communities and stronger businesses.

About Our Guest

Alan “Dutch” Kerr is with Swipe for a Cause, a credit card processing company built around customer service, community impact, and long-term relationships. A portion of the company’s profits supports local hospice organizations, creating a business model centered on service and generosity.

Learn More About BNI

If you want to grow your business through referrals and real relationships, visit:

https://bit.ly/4n3WFPD

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode:

•  Subscribe to the podcast 
•  Share it with another business owner 
•  Leave a review or comment 

Final Question

Are you building your business around transactions…

or around contribution?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hi, I'm Megan Chitwood, and welcome to From Overlooked to Consistently Booked, where we have real conversations with real professionals. This month, I am joined by Dutch Kerr of Swipe for a Cause. And this week we are talking about why generosity builds pipelines, sales pipelines, faster than strategy alone. So, how have you used generosity to really build this business? I mean, we're going back to the first episode of what Swipe for a Cause does for hospice as an example. But what do what does how does generosity really play a role in your and how you approach business?

SPEAKER_01 0:50

As far as business, um it's the idea of uh wanting to give. Yeah. It's not about money, it's not about sales. Uh you have to have all those things, you know, to but but it's not it's not about that. That comes later. Um if you approach it as a what can I give? What can I contribute to this right now? Um and I think that that's the way generosity, if you approach your business as as as generosity, what more can I do to make this better? It's not just closing the deal. What what can I do for you? What can I make uh what's going on in the your clients life? What's going on in your fellow B and I members' life? How can you make things better? Um and now, you know, as uh and and you encourage that. You actually sometimes in an odd way, you will get into a uh a giving situation. Uh well, I'll give you an example. So in our B and I, uh one of our members works uh with his church to help out and build um uh habitats for for people in another in another country. Well, we all found out about that. Everyone wanted to contribute. And they all I there wasn't a I don't think there was a person in our BNI who didn't want to contribute. No one was asked. It just all of a sudden people were just like, you know, let me let me do this, let me help. And here's the here's the thing. The more success you have in a business and the more generous you are, that's the measurement of your business. So if you can afford to be generous, you're doing well. That's how you should measure it. Not only how much money you got in the bank account, but how much money you can give, or how much time you can give, how much time you're supposed to have time, the more successful you get. Well, that's the that's what they say. Sometimes that's not necessarily true. Uh sometimes people more successful you are, the less time you have. So if you can give your time, it's now real valuable. Now it's real real generosity. Your time is valuable, which also is a measure of your success. So it all kind of ties in together, I think. Um, and if you measure your success by how generous you can be, how much more you can give. Um, I think that that's a big factor of it.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Well, and we talked about it a little bit in previous in previous episodes around customer service and checking in with your customers and giving them their your time as well to again be curious and and all of that kind of just leads into it.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Well, the curiosity leads into generosity too. Because if you're talking to your client and you know about them and you're asking about something that they shared with you, and they remember they they're like, wow, you remembered that, and they get they share more with you, you naturally want to help out. And then sometimes you're sharing things that they can giving them the opportunity to be generous to you, too. That's another thing that people don't talk about so much. They talk about them being generous, but but um people want to be generous, people want to help. One of the things when I was younger, um someone told me, I wish I could have I think it was my math teacher, I don't know, but he told me when you need something, if you say to someone, can you help me? that person will want to help you. And you're giving that person the opportunity to help. And that's a gift. And I thought, what a strange, you know, but I'm asking for help. How is that a gift? Well, it's a gift because you're giving them the opportunity to help you. And we all have a natural inclination in us, you know, that we want to help. And um, so sometimes you might need something, and it's okay to ask for it and let somebody else be generous too. So it's a key.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Well, and it's interesting because I think some people find that asking for help is a sign of weakness.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Oh no, no, no. I I think you're right though. I think I and I'm sure I'm sure actually before my math teacher back then or whoever it was said that, yeah, I probably felt the same way. But no, I don't think I think it's a I think it's a sign of strength. I think it's a sign of well, there's a little generosity in that too, isn't it? Yeah. So no, I don't think it's a sign of weakness. I think it's a sign of strength.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

It's you know, um well, it's definitely a sign a way to get things done faster. Well, because you can sit there and stew on it yourself, right? Right. That's right. You can try and figure it out. Because there's no problem. This is all good. Yeah, it's gonna keep you from the success you ultimately want. That's right. You know, that you ultimately.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

And we all need help in something. Yeah. And you're giving somebody and you know what? You're you're you're actually giving it's a give and take. You know, you're you're giving them uh the ability to help you, or you're you're able to help them and they're receiving it. You know, there's nothing worse than when you want to help someone and they're like, no, I'm fine. Yeah, you're not, man. You're falling apart. Let me help you out.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

I can see it. I can see it.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

This is not good, you know.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

I had never really thought about generosity, and giving generosity allows you to get generosity back. Yeah, I'd heard about it for reciprocity. That like, you know, give reciprocity, get reciprocity. But you're right.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

We all have needs. We all have things that we need, you know. We all have things that go on in our life that are difficult. We can't, no man's an island, you know. You can't do this on your own. You need other people.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

And um, some people are better at certain things than you are. Um, and allow them to show you that. Allow them to help you out. And um, and in return, they'll allow you to help them out. And you know, it's it's just it's living. It's living, it's the right way to live, you know.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

I think that is part of um a lot of I think going into business sometimes people feel like it's a zero-sum game.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

I think that I think so. And I think unfortunately, that is kind of taught, or or maybe it's a misperception of how things are taught. Um, you know, you always say, oh, it's a dog eat dog world, or you know, that's that business is cutthroat, you know, or um it doesn't have to be.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Well, I think you're proving it because uh cutthroat business in the payment systems part. Yeah, it can be it's I mean, like I get I think it's gotten a better reputation, but um, but I do think it it has been.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

But no, there's a gift in that too, because if you're in an industry that's known for being a little cutthroat or that kind of thing, and you're not, how much more are you gonna shine? You know, if you're a generous person, you know, generous to your competition. Hey, I don't really this you're better at this part. Why don't you take this? You know, that kind of thing, like we were talking about uh before. But um, but if you're generous, then uh, you know, you you're you're the diamond in your industry, then, right? How much better are you gonna look? Well, and it's uh and I can't and if you didn't mean to be that, you know what I mean? It's not intentional, it's just it's not intentional, it just kind of happens.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

But well, yeah, and and I always say, like, what what do you what is your special sauce? Can you name it so that then I can use it, right? Great example of yours, right? They donate a portion of their profits to hospice. I've had a hospice experience, that is something that would draw me towards your company for sure. And if I know somebody else who has a hospice experience, that's an easy, that's an easy conversation piece. But also sometimes it's you personally and what your values are can be the thing that sets it apart. Jason Sanders was a great example of that last month, of he just had a he he just turned it on its head, and you're saying the exact same thing.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

Well, I think that you know, another thing that I noticed in this industry um that is probably the biggest more than anything is the customer service, the ability to get in touch with someone. Yeah. Because in processing, you're in a 1-800 number and you're in a call center and you're in the middle of the business, and things are going and going and going, and you just you can't even get someone on the phone. And um to be available is a generous thing that you can do too. And we're you know, that's one of the things that that's a success right there in swipe for a cause, uh, is you're getting someone on the phone right away who understands your problem. And if they don't have the answer, they're gonna find out, and you can just go back to business. We're taking care of this, you know. Yeah. There's um I'll give you an example. I had a um jewelry store in Fall River, Massachusetts, and they were having an issue with something and um uh they they were so frustrated. And uh when they came to swipe for a cause, where was somebody else who couldn't solve this problem? When they came to it, they couldn't believe that they could actually get someone on the phone, you know, and uh help them out. So it is it's a big it's a big plus, but generosity is the core to business. And generosity is the core to um it's the core to community too.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Yeah, you know? Yeah, absolutely. This has been an awesome month of talking about we like to call coopetition, right? How do you collaborate with your competition? How do you collaborate with others? How do you be of value to others? And then today on Generosity, I hope all of our listeners like heard you loud and clear because it, like you said, it's an amazing way to do business ultimately. Thank you for tuning in this week from overlooked to consistently booked. This has been an amazing month of knowledge and sharing with Dutch and Swipe for a Cause about selling through service. If you like real conversations like this, please like and subscribe to the channel and drop a comment below on something you'd like to dig into next. And if you are interested in learning more about BI and how it could be a resource for your business, visit northern.biallabama.com or bmi.com if you are outside of northern Alabama.