Dear Friend,
The woman was walking down the aisle towards
his cart.
He knew there was only one reason she'd likely be
coming to his cart... carrying one of his bags, full of
products... first thing on a Tuesday morning.
She wanted a refund.
***
He glanced at the "No refund, exchanges only"
on his cart, and he sighed.
He didn't have many requests for a refund, but the
few he did have always seemed to be unpleasant.
As she got closer, he could see that she was just a little old lady. "Could I help you this morning?" he asked, as
she got to the cart.
"Yes", she replied.
She looked down at the bag sheepishly, as she
held it out, "I'd like to return these."
"I'm sorry, but I don't really have a use for them."
***
He looked at the two $50 heat packs in the bag.
"Well ... why did you buy them then?", he asked
more curious than anything else.
"Well, I was here with my girlfriend on Saturday"
"She bought one of these for her bad neck."
"There were so many people buzzing around, and
it felt so good."
"I just got caught up in all the excitement."
Today I'd like to talk to about a factor that I believe has a huge impact on the sales success of your cart or kiosk... once you are actually open.
It can be the difference between a cart that breaks even... and one that makes a lot of money. It can be the difference between an 'average' selling cart... and one that sells twice as much.
Many cart operators will unwittingly LIMIT the sales
potential at their cart by selling their product on the
basis of the 'Product Alone'.
They'll talk about the features and benefits of their
product. Maybe even tell a story or two.
Even the most conscientious of operators will do this.
And feel like they're doing everything right.
***
If you have a solid product, and are in a solid mall, you
WILL make sales on the basis of 'Product Alone.'
You'll mostly sell to the people who have a big need
or want for your product.
But when you sell on the basis of 'Product Alone', you
won't sell nearly as much as you could, if you went a
little further.
You're likely to miss customers who aren't quite sure
about their purchase. The ones who aren't quite comfortable
buying right now.
When these customers walk away, you might have the
feeling you COULD have made the sale. But don't know
quite what you could have done different.
***
What's often lacking is what I call the 'dynamics' of
the sale.
What I refer to as 'dynamics' are the subtle, or not so
subtle circumstances you create... that make it far more
likely for a customer to buy from you.
***
Let me give you an example of how dynamics can impact
your sales. Let's look at the story I told at the start of
this email.
The woman I mentioned didn't buy the products because
she needed or wanted them, as much as she bought because
of the dynamics of the crowd.
("I just got caught up in all the excitement.")
The operator created the crowd dynamics on purpose.
He staffed his cart with more salespeople.
He knew they would help create a 'crowd. He knew the crowd would cause more to stop. And he knew the
crowd would cause more people to buy.
***
I could devote a whole email to the benefits of
creating a crowd.
People are more likely to stop at, and to buy from a
cart when they see others do it first.
However, the point of this email isn't about creating a
crowd, although creating a crowd it IS a good idea.
The crowd dynamic is an example of one 'dynamic' that's
not about your product, or about the mall, that can
help boost your sales.
And there is no limit to the 'number' of the dynamics you can create, to make it more likely for people to
buy from you.
What's nice about dynamics is that YOU can create them
from nothing.
When you master the 'dynamics', you'll find that you have
a lot more control over the SALES at your cart.
***
Tune into the dynamics surrounding a sale on your cart.
When you do, you'll sell a lot more, and you'll make a
lot more, and you'll find life to be a lot easier!
***
Best,
Brady Flower
P.S. Oh, the operator I mentioned told me he laughed
warmly when the woman told him why she bought his heat
packs, and then offered her a full refund.
You know you're doing a good job creating 'dynamics'
when even the people that don't need your product buy
from you.
It's one of the reason he was able to sell $140K during
the holidays, when the average cart with his line sold
$70K. |
