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 Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales success or one of the many who have failed to change? So what are you doing to change those results? Let’s be honest, with companies moving globally and at lightening speeds, the traditional business solutions are outdated and dead. My approach moves your business out of its comfort zone and secures your competitive advantage now. If you are seeking to increase sales, build customer loyalty, create a culture of great attitudes or just achieve some sleep filled nights, then we should talk because my clients have experienced exactly those types of results. Learn more about customer loyalty at http://www.processspecialist.com/customer-loyalty.htm Give me a call at 219.759.5601 for a free strategy session. P.S. If you are seeking a motivational speaker, sales trainer or small business expert that will leave your audience smiling and remembering, please feel free to contact me at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland Smith's Website |
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Bob Janet
(Visit Bob's Website)
ooks and CD’s at www.Bob
Janet.comBob Janet uses 40 plus years
of face-to-face selling and marketing
experiences as owner / operator of
wholesale, retail, manufacturing and
service businesses, combined with his
unique content loaded, fun-entertaining
audience involved keynotes and seminars to
help owners, sales professionals and sales
support staff increase sales and profits
by gaining and retaining their most
profitable customers.
When everyone else tells you what to do to
increase your sales and profits...Bob
Janet shows you how!!
See all Bob's sales growth programs and
top selling sales / marketing
books and CD's www.BobJanet.com<
/a>
Bob Janet
Bob@BobJane
t.com
800-286-1203
www.BobJanet.com<
/a>
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