FREE – A powerful sales technique
FREE – A powerful sales technique
1. Never give away your profit makers.
One of the mistakes I made during my 30 years as a retailer (retail store owner & operator) was to hastily put together a free drawing marketing promotion. It also turned out to be one of the best lessons I stumbled upon. I ran a promotion for one of the two worst reasons - my competition was running a promotion*.
I hurriedly decided to have a drawing for an item I sold. A 19” color TV. Every customer purchasing an item from my electronics store was given the opportunity to put in one entry for every one hundred dollars in purchases. I will never forget it. On Friday evening Mrs. Yost purchased a 25” table model color TV and entered 3 entrees to the contest. Saturday afternoon we pulled Mrs. Yost’s entry. She had won our 19” color TV. When she arrived at 5:00 PM to receive her prize we were ready with still video cameras ready to record her reaction for use in our future marketing and advertising campaigns. As she accepted her prize she was all smiles and said the words that taught me the lesson of the century. And I quote, because I will never forget her words, “Thank you Bob. I was going to come in and buy my mother a new TV for her birthday next week. Now I don’t have to.”
* The other bad reason sellers run promotions is:
• The advertising media tells you to because your competition is doing so.
The only reason to conduct a marketing promotion is to sell the products and services you make a profit from the
sale of.
2. The free item must be related to your business in some direct way.
To use something you are giving away "Free” to induce your customer’s to act to purchase your products or services, the item you are giving “Free" must be related to the product or service you are selling. It must enhance the items you sell for profit and make those items more valuable to the customer.
Example: Free doughnuts do not make an air conditioner more valuable to the customers. But a free winter
cover does.
3. The customer must do something of value for your business to get the free item.
For example:
• Come in or contact your business at a special time - preferable to use free items to get them in your store on slow days or make contact with you in slow sales periods.
• Purchase a profitable item to receive the free item.
• Introduce you to a friend, relative or colleague whom you can sell products and services too.
• Visit your store or purchase your products and services a specific number of times within a certain time period.
4. Be creative. Use your imagination.
Look around, you may be surprised what you can use as a free gift for your customers. When I was in the retail business, tire sales and appliances, I had a debtor, the owner of an ice cream dairy store, who owed me $1500. When I realized, after a year, that I was not going to get paid, at least not in money, I offered to take ice cream as payment. At that time a quart of ice cream sold for a bit over a dollar. Now what was I going to do with 1400 plus quarts of ice cream? Use it as a promotion to increase sales.
Here is what I did. I set a freezer right next to the front door of the store. Whenever a customer, who did not make a purchase, was leaving the store we gave them a quart of ice cream. It was summertime and I knew they were planning to go to other stores to compare our prices and products. But when they were given a quart of ice cream, where do you think they went? Right, they went home. We always asked them where they lived and their telephone number. We gave them time to get home and called them. Sure enough, they were home putting the free ice cream in their freezer. Now we went to work on continuing the sale. We would discuss more benefits they would receive from us over our competition. We did not make every sale, but we closed quiet a few on a regular basis.
What do you have to give away that will increase your sales?
5. Use the 4 Step Formula to Make the word Free work to increase your sales.
1. The word Free +
2. Limited time +
3. At least one customer benefit to be derived from what is free =
4. MEANINGFUL OFFER THAT INDUCES THE CUSTOMER TO RESPOND.
Examples: “Free heavy duty vinyl cover, today only, to protect your air
conditioner throughout the winter months with the purchase of
any air conditioner.”
“Free deluxe paintbrush, to make your painting job easier and
nicer, with the purchase of 2 gallons of ABC outdoor paint
today only!”
FREE A powerful sales technique - To learn more about this author, visit Bob Janet's Website.
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5 Rules of using free:
1. Never give away your profit makers.
One of the mistakes I made during my 30 years as a retailer (retail store owner & operator) was to hastily put together a free drawing marketing promotion. It also turned out to be one of the best lessons I stumbled upon. I ran a promotion for one of the two worst reasons - my competition was running a promotion*.
I hurriedly decided to have a drawing for an item I sold. A 19” color TV. Every customer purchasing an item from my electronics store was given the opportunity to put in one entry for every one hundred dollars in purchases. I will never forget it. On Friday evening Mrs. Yost purchased a 25” table model color TV and entered 3 entrees to the contest. Saturday afternoon we pulled Mrs. Yost’s entry. She had won our 19” color TV. When she arrived at 5:00 PM to receive her prize we were ready with still video cameras ready to record her reaction for use in our future marketing and advertising campaigns. As she accepted her prize she was all smiles and said the words that taught me the lesson of the century. And I quote, because I will never forget her words, “Thank you Bob. I was going to come in and buy my mother a new TV for her birthday next week. Now I don’t have to.”
* The other bad reason sellers run promotions is:
• The advertising media tells you to because your competition is doing so.
The only reason to conduct a marketing promotion is to sell the products and services you make a profit from the
sale of.
2. The free item must be related to your business in some direct way.
To use something you are giving away "Free” to induce your customer’s to act to purchase your products or services, the item you are giving “Free" must be related to the product or service you are selling. It must enhance the items you sell for profit and make those items more valuable to the customer.
Example: Free doughnuts do not make an air conditioner more valuable to the customers. But a free winter
cover does.
3. The customer must do something of value for your business to get the free item.
For example:
• Come in or contact your business at a special time - preferable to use free items to get them in your store on slow days or make contact with you in slow sales periods.
• Purchase a profitable item to receive the free item.
• Introduce you to a friend, relative or colleague whom you can sell products and services too.
• Visit your store or purchase your products and services a specific number of times within a certain time period.
4. Be creative. Use your imagination.
Look around, you may be surprised what you can use as a free gift for your customers. When I was in the retail business, tire sales and appliances, I had a debtor, the owner of an ice cream dairy store, who owed me $1500. When I realized, after a year, that I was not going to get paid, at least not in money, I offered to take ice cream as payment. At that time a quart of ice cream sold for a bit over a dollar. Now what was I going to do with 1400 plus quarts of ice cream? Use it as a promotion to increase sales.
Here is what I did. I set a freezer right next to the front door of the store. Whenever a customer, who did not make a purchase, was leaving the store we gave them a quart of ice cream. It was summertime and I knew they were planning to go to other stores to compare our prices and products. But when they were given a quart of ice cream, where do you think they went? Right, they went home. We always asked them where they lived and their telephone number. We gave them time to get home and called them. Sure enough, they were home putting the free ice cream in their freezer. Now we went to work on continuing the sale. We would discuss more benefits they would receive from us over our competition. We did not make every sale, but we closed quiet a few on a regular basis.
What do you have to give away that will increase your sales?
5. Use the 4 Step Formula to Make the word Free work to increase your sales.
1. The word Free +
2. Limited time +
3. At least one customer benefit to be derived from what is free =
4. MEANINGFUL OFFER THAT INDUCES THE CUSTOMER TO RESPOND.
Examples: “Free heavy duty vinyl cover, today only, to protect your air
conditioner throughout the winter months with the purchase of
any air conditioner.”
“Free deluxe paintbrush, to make your painting job easier and
nicer, with the purchase of 2 gallons of ABC outdoor paint
today only!”
FREE A powerful sales technique - To learn more about this author, visit Bob Janet's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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