If you've been reading my blog posts for awhile, you know my mantra is "nothing beats personal contact." If you’re ready to skyrocket your 4th quarter sales, it's important to get out there in a big way!
Contact your most wanted prospects and clients and tell them you have great ideas for increasing their business that you want to share. Consider offering a free end-of-year marketing check-up. In short, give your most wanted clients and prospects a reason to want to meet with you.
Here are five proven strategies to do just that:
1) Provide free tastes. Baskin-Robins made this famous with their little pink spoon. You could taste the ice cream flavors before you purchased. Gourmet food gifts are a top seller this time of year. Many of our top suppliers are now offering delicious food items that your clients may be purchasing in the retail market. Why not let them know you can provide these, too? Want an easy way to get orders for food gifts? Bring your clients tasting samples. Many of our suppliers offer free tasting sample programs. Let your top prospects and clients know that you have a delicious surprise you’re bringing to the meeting. Many of our suppliers provide tasting samples from their gourmet food line.
2) Be tech savvy. Smart phones, tablets, MP3 players and flash memory are the products we use every day. Let your clients know that not only can you provide many of these products, you can also personalize them with their logo and/or provide enhancements to the products such as carrying cases, screen cleaners and selfie sticks.
3) Be different. Looking for a different idea to suggest this year, or to use as your own holiday gift to your best prospects and clients? Think books. There are thousands of titles to choose from to accommodate just about any type of client. Last year, one savvy promotional products distributor sent her best clients a gorgeous, beautifully illustrated Williams Sonoma cookbook at Thanksgiving. Sending a gift around Thanksgiving will make your gift stand out and will make you look like one in a million instead of one of many.
4) Sell the results not the item. Your clients have business challenges that you can solve. Instead of focusing on the pen, mug or T-Shirt that you can provide, focus on the results that pen, mug or T-shirt can get for them. Show them how a promotional item can help them attract more business, motivate their employees, encourage customer loyalty and more. When you focus on results you’ll speed up the sales process.
5) Network in a targeted way with the right attitude. The 4th quarter is a great time to network. There are lots of opportunities and parties. Focus on attending events where you will find your choice clients. What organizations do they belong to? What boards do they serve on? Who do you know that can introduce you? Random networking doesn’t work nearly as well as targeted networking. While attending networking events seek to make a few quality connections, not collect the most business cards.
One more important tip: When meeting with your prospects and clients, be sure to emphasize that you want to make this easy for them. You’ll do all the legwork, you’ll take care of all of the details and you’ll make them look fabulous! These days, ease of purchase goes a long way in securing more business.
Follow any of these strategies and watch your 4th quarter sales soar!
Rosalie Marcus, The Promo Biz Coach, is a promotional products business expert, coach and speaker. Combining her skills and years of experience in promotional sales, she helps her clients sell more at higher profit margins and dramatically increase their incomes. Get a free special report: "10 Big Mistakes Promotional Professionals Make and How to Avoid Them" at www.promobizcoach.com. Reach her at Rosalie@promobizcoach.com or (215) 572-6766.