Are You Selling Thin Mints?

No one wants to be “sold”, but people do want to “buy”. There’s a big difference.

This picture pretty much sums it up:

Let’s role play for a minute . . .

You own a restaurant. You’re having trouble getting new customers in the door. You say “I’m going to offer 20% off – that will get people to come in.”

But no one bites (no pun intended).

20% off is just a boring 20% off. I can get that anywhere.

Now if you package an unlimited 2 4 1 card that can be used for the next 3 months and sell it for $25, I may buy that. And if you tell me I’ll also get “insane bonus offers” and there “there’s only a few cards left” and they’ll probably “be gone by the end of the day,” yeh I’m definitely going to buy the card.

When I buy into, or have to work for, an offer I feel like a VIP.

The feel good factor, the entitlement factor I feel when I use a paid for promotion, is such a valuable emotional state to both merchants and marketers, yet one which is all too often not capitalized on enough.

It’s easy to find buyers for these cards, they don’t have to be sold.

Why? Because it’s about selling the sizzle not the sausage. Here’s how to do that:

FOCUS ON THE VALUE

When people pay for a promotion they VALUE it more then when they get it free. I ran this promotion for a pizza shop and we sold 1,242 cards whereas when they ran the EXACT SAME OFFER on a flyer, it sat unread, destined for the circular file (trash can).

INCREASED REDEMPTION

You want people to come into your restaurant. Most will spend over the promotional value. They’ll get an appetizer. They’ll get drinks. They may even get a dessert. They’re going to visit you more often. All wins for you. And of course if you provide an amazing experience, they’ll tell others.

The Girl Scouts get the concept of getting people to “buy” without having to “sell”.

It’s just a friggin’ cookie, but every year the Girl Scouts sell over 200 million boxes for $3 – $5 each. The scouts’ seasonal sales totaled $785 million last year, making it No. 3 in the industry. 

You can only get the cookies one time a year, so guess what? People will buy boxes and boxes of them. And they’re an iconic product with sentimental value. You’re not buying the cookie, you’re buying “when you were a Girl Scout” or “when you ate Girl Scout cookies as a kid”. You’re buying the STORY, not the PRODUCT. That’s the million dollar lesson.

Got thin mints? If you’re selling, I’m buying!
NOTE: If you need help in creating a marketing strategy to get you BUYERS so you don’t have to SELL, let me know. The Small Biz Marketing Specialist is here to help!

About Stacey Riska

Stacey Riska, aka “Small Business Stacey” is a serial entrepreneur who is passionate about saving small business and rebuilding Main Street. She helps small and local business owners become a #SmallBizMarketingWiz by teaching them marketing strategies that get MORE: MORE leads, MORE customers/clients, MORE sales, and MORE money. Stacey is the founder of Small Biz Marketing Specialist, THE go-to place for marketing tips, techniques and strategies that get results. Stacey is also the creator of the Daily Deals for Massive Profits Training Program, an online video training program that teaches small and local business owners how to use daily deal sites like Groupon to skyrocket their business growth and get massive profits. In this program she teaches from experience, as it was the key strategy that transformed her coffee and smoothie business from being $500K in debt to a 7-figure profitable business. When not saving the small business world, she enjoys sipping red wine, eating chocolate (who doesn’t!) and spending time with her amazing husband.