Advertising and Marketing Ideas to Create Phenomenal Profits In YOUR Small Business

Why Are Some Local Small Businesses Dying? PDF Print E-mail
Why Are Some Local Small Businesses Dying?

I received an E-Mail from a non-member telling me that “Sales training doesn’t work. Sales techniques don’t work. It’s the market conditions that determine your success”.

I may as well say it here. I no longer try to convince people who are not Gold Members. I simply nod in agreement & move on. I can’t (and neither can you) drag people across the finish line...or waste time trying to change their world view.

Anyway…...Cheryl (my adorable and patient wife) and I drove to an upscale mall in Akron Ohio. We noticed that it was busy, and didn’t seem fazed by the economic troubles.

Lesson one; People in the upper 50% of  income earners aren’t as affected by the economy as those in the lower 50%.

So we went shopping…

We went to a store that sold original oil paintings. We saw one we liked for $299. We also looked at several others. The clerk was a helpful man who offered to mail it to us. But here is what he didn’’t do...
He didn’t offer us the opportunity to buy more than one painting.
After we left, I told Cheryl “He missed a chance for a great sales day. If he would have asked ‘How many rooms are in your home?’ and ‘Why not pick your favorite five paintings...and we’ll save you four more trips to the mall?” we would have bought the other paintings”.  And we would have. The most basic retail sales technique is “Add on selling”. The guy missed it, ad it cost him dearly.

A year ago a Master Salesperson at Levin’’s Furniture in Akron Ohio could have stopped at selling us a couple of end tables…..but within a couple hours, we had furnished most of our new home...at a total of $24,000. That’’s selling.

I got my hair cut at a place called Great Clips.
The haircut was $12 and I gave an $8 tip. I was a ripe buyer of products....waiting for someone to solve my hair-thinning problems.
Suggest a solution? Offer hair care products?
Nope!   An easy $200 sale was reduced to $12 and tip.
A magic question that any salesperson could ask me to double their average sale is;
“could I make a suggestion?” or “may I make a suggestion?”. And (assuming I can see that they are looking out for my best interests) I would simply take their expert advice.
Wouldn’t you?