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Create a Marketing Strategy to Attract Customers and Increase Sales

Guest post by: Gordon O'Neill

Article Overview: When I started my sales career I was young. What I lacked in sales experience I made up for with enthusiasm. While I was eager, I wasn't naive. I knew that I needed to create my own marketing strategy in order to kick-start my career in sales. Learn how I created a marketing strategy for less than $15.

Create a Marketing Strategy to Attract Customers and Increase Sales

When I started my sales career I was young. What I lacked in sales experience I made up for in When I started my sales career I was young. What I lacked in sales experience I made up for with enthusiasm. While I was eager, I wasn't naive. I knew that I needed a way to kick-start to my sales career. I had to do more than simply attract customers; I needed a customer injection that would immediately bring money in the door. I didn't have rolodex of contacts or a portfolio of lease returns or existing customers like a lot of the veteran sales representatives. I was starting fresh and needed to make money yesterday.

I knew that I needed to create my own marketing strategy in order to generate leads.

One day I was walking around a local printing and business supply store, when it hit me. They had a big sign in their printing section that said "Colour Copies Now Available". I went back to my office and used skills that I learned in pre-school and started cutting out pictures of vehicles from our product brochures. I then pasted them on to my dealership's company letterhead and typed out some terms and financing numbers. At the top of the page I put special employee offer for________________ (I inserted various company names from my area).

I then went back to the print shop, had 50 copies made for each company I was going to target and purchased 10 assembled gift baskets at $14.95 each. The baskets were filled with chocolates, assorted coffees, and tea.

The next morning I went to all of the local companies that I had identified for potential business and spoke to their receptionists. I told them that I valued the hard work they did and that I wanted to give them a gift basket as a token of my appreciation. They were thrilled.

I would then go into my sales pitch and asked them if they would do me a favour. I asked them to put a copy of the brochure that I created in each employee's mailbox and post them in the lunchroom and on any company information boards throughout their establishment.

It took about three weeks for the first sale, but after that, the sales started consistently rolling in. My efforts even attracted the attention of our city bus terminals and they asked us to offer their employees the same deal.

This turned in to a huge money maker for my dealership on a minimal investment. This process is even easier in today's market. The printing industry has drastically improved over the pat 10 years and you can develop great marketing materials using free templates on the internet.

Sometimes going back to basics will increase your sales more than you could ever imagine.

So ask yourself, what can you do today to kick-start your sales career?

Think outside the box and keep selling ahead of the curve.

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Article Tags: attract customers, career in sales, increase sales, marketing strategy, sales career, sales experience, sales marketing strategy



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