How to sell using a special promotion to reward existing customers, attract more customers, raise your business profile, and make more sales.

By David Trim, ActionCOACH Business Coach, Napier, Hastings, NZ

During a regular coaching call with Coralie from Suzelle Lingerie, she casually mentioned that March 2010 was her 40th year in the lingerie business and her 20th year being at Suzelle’s Lingerie. It has also been ten years that Coralie has owned Suzelles Lingerie outright. While it was a casual conversation, as a business coach I couldn’t let this go unnoticed. So being armed with this information we immediately started planning a multi-milestone promotion.
Celebrating milestones is an important aspect of our lives - our family lives, personal lives, and also in business.

We began planning the promotion by brainstorming and capturing many wild ideas. There were plenty of options to consider given the whole width of the anniversaries that happened to unite at the same time.

We then set aside a list of ideas that would make the promotion different to any other promotion that was going on in the main street. We discussed this with the sales team, and added their ideas in the mix - Live models in the window (which hadn’t been done before), live radio broadcasts from the shop, changing the specials on each of the three days to represent the three milestones, fashion parades…. The idea list was exhausting! We decided to enlist more help to get the promotion together. This included graphic designers to create a concept design and retail specialists to coordinate store presentation reinforcing the design. The signwriters added some large coreflute signs, and lastly we set a media plan to keep it cohesive and ensure our shoppers knew of the celebration.
While all this was going on, behind the scenes we booked some space for advertising in the local paper, and presented a newsworthy topic emphasising the depth of history in Suzelle’s Lingerie in Hastings and that this was the first time live models were going to be used in a window display. Supporting advertisements from our suppliers were also sought.

With the specials arranged, signs in place, the windows dressed the night before, the radio broadcasting, champagne chilled, and the double page advertisement now in circulation… it was time for the celebration to begin. A cake was baked for each of the three days to symbolise the three milestones.

We were set for a fun celebration, but also needed to increase sales to also make it a profitable occasion. The sales team were upskilled in the sales process, ensuring they knew how to introduce customers to all the ranges, and how to sell effectively.

After three days of very busy sales and of lots of interest in the live model window display, a very successful promotion was completed. We’d actually achieved an entertainment spectacle for the main street, raised the business profile and reputation, and created a celebration that was worthy of note for Coralie, the sales team, and for the loyal shoppers who have shopped at Suzelle’s throughout the years.

Use celebrations in your business to create great selling opportunities. Plan an enjoyable occasion or promotion. Include your sales team and customers and use it to raise your business profile, introduce new customers to your products/services and make more sales. Remember this is a time to attract more customers, customers for life. So continue with fun promotions and make your customers and clients experience with your business extra special. And ensure your team know how to sell to maximise the sales opportunities.

In our business’s we should never underestimate the milestones that we achieve. We should make sure that our shoppers, our customers/clients are all participating in our celebrations. They are part of our businesses and like to be acknowledged as such, and be part of the journey that is your business. And so too in our personal lives whenever we have reached accomplishments, goals, or steps to success, we need to take the time to do the planning necessary to celebrate them well.

Click here now to contact David Trim for your FREE business coaching session.