STAND UP AND GREET THE PEOPLE.

I've related this before... eons ago... but will again for those whose brains are a little more full of fog, for those whose brains are only fog, for those who are new, and because it fits with this thread...

I ran two garage sales... a week apart I think (my brain is a little foggy on this point :o)).

Garage Sale 1: Be like the people I see in stores I don't go into, and leave real quick when I do enter - stand their waiting to be appraoched to be given money. In other words, say and do nothing but accept money and answer questions, if asked.

Garage Sale 2: Greet people as they came in AND mention an enticement device.

Results: Garage Sale 1... flop. Garage Sale 2... sold out apart from a small number of items which could be carried in a school bag.

The enticement device?

Nothing more than a section of the garage with items of $x each or X number of items for the price of one item less - 4 for the price of 3, 5 for the price of 4, and so on.

If the rule of "the longer someone stays and browses the greater the chance of a sale" is true... and Cheskin's research would indicate it is... then my enticement device did the trick.

A quick general browse followed by a more in-depth look to see how the separate items could be bundled together as a package, resulted in a longer browsing time and a vast increase in sales. So much so, we began to cannibalize our other stuff... stuff not included in the sale (stuff we were keeping)... because we we're running out of items to sell.

A LESSON FROM A FLEA MARKET...

Created a product. Got a stall - one of those out of the way stalls reserved for people who sell at a flea market once in a blue moon, and not realy near where the action is. Set up. Nothing flash and nothing to attract anyone.

And yet, we always had people at the counter. And I think it was because of another enticement device... ME.

If there was a period of time when no one was there (in the initial stages), and nothing was done about it, it was a long time before someone was there.

Solution... become a browser. Hit the other side of the stall and pretend to be someone who was interested and simply deciding which to buy and how many to buy.

Worked every time!

Increased sales by asking if they'd like another as a gift, selling the second one cheaper as a bonus, etc. Worked a treat. But dang, it was such a looong day - over 14 hours - cause we had to travel far to set up.

KNOCKING ON DOORS...

All the clients of one of my businesses were landed by "walking in off the street" - cold calling. And every single "cold called upon business" took advantage of what I was selling. Every single one.

Most said yes on the spot - the deal was done and made in less than three minutes. Others took a few repeat visits to win over.

I used No sales spiel. No proven selling sentences. No mention of benefits. And I never said the exact same thing to any two of the businesses. I still don't.

BUT... and this is the real "secret"... I didn't approach every business. I targeted them with laser-like precision. So much so that all I did was walk in, mention their problem (yes they did have a problem) and that I could solve it for them.

Sometimes I mention other businesses who now partake of what I offer... and show them the bunch of their business cards with nice comments (testimonials) written on the back (asked for and obtained immediately after their problem is solved and they are the most delighted). And sometimes I don't. Like I said... I don't say the same thing twice. All I do is offer to solve their problem in a non-threatening non-in-your-face way. And it works for that particular market.

And Gordon, if you ever decide you want to visit Australia on a paid sort-of-working vacation... a touring "turn any mild mannered scardy cat into a super salesman" workshop"... then...

Michael Ross.