Lesson
learnt from a shopkeeper.
Last week I had a very interesting experience while
out shopping. My daughter had requested that I
purchase three lever arch files for her while I went
about my law full business and as a result I found
myself in a small stationers shop.
I picked up the files and stood at
the counter waiting for my turn to be served. I
became aware of a disembodied voice repeating “they
are two for £2.50.” At first I just ignored the
intrusion but eventually I looked around and
realised the voice was in fact talking to me.
“They are two for £2.50”, I am sure
you are correct thought I but why are you telling
me? I finally realised that the gentleman concerned
meant that the lever arch files were two for £2.50
and would I like to purchase four rather than three.
You may be wondering why I bother to
report this little encounter. The reason is simply
that there are valuable lessons to be learnt that
can be applied to your business regardless of size
or the products / services that you supply. What are
a few of these ideas?
1. Before you are able to deliver an
effective sales message it is necessary to gain the
attention of your prospect. In the example above a
simple “excuse me sir” would have sufficed. How do
you attract the attention of your prospects? Until
someone is listening to you, your sales message is
wasted regardless of how good it may or may not be.
2. No one purchases at the first
contact. It would be wonderful if contacting a
prospect once would lead to a sale but unfortunately
the world does not work that way. Most people will
not purchase until the sixth, seventh or eight
contact. This is why sending out one direct mailing
piece is rarely as successful as multiple contacts
over a period of time.
3. One thing the shop owner was
doing right was to up-sell at the point of sale. By
offering two lever arch files for £2.50 he increased
the chances that customers would make a larger
purchase. What products or services are you able to
bundle together and produce an irresistible offer
for your customers?
4. Measure, measure, and measure.
The shop owner priced his offer in such a way that
he could easily lose money if a reasonable number of
customers would usually purchase two lever arch
files anyway. Had I thought to ask I suspect that it
is unlikely he would be able to tell me how many
files would generally be purchased at one time?
Without this information it is impossible for him to
know whether he is making or losing money on his
offer.
5. Contact your customers and let
them know when you have a special offer. Create
special offers just for your most valuable
customers. This would be difficult for the
shopkeeper in the example because he made no attempt
to capture my name or contact details. If you do not
keep your information in front of your customers you
will be forgotten.
It is really very interesting just
how much there is to be learnt from one little
encounter in a shop while purchasing a few lever
arch files.
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