Something-for-nothing approach good sales strategy

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Sep 24, 1997

Non-traditional advertising -- primarily sales promotions -- may be just the ticket for boosting sales. The type of promotion you use is limited only by your imagination.

The four most common sales promotions are customer contests, coupons, premiums and free samples.

Each of these approaches may be tailored to your specific clients or customers. Customer contests may be very exciting, and you don't have to offer million-dollar giveaways or very expensive prizes to get your customers' attention. Contests may range from the controversial -- the bikini contest that's a regular at certain bars or nightclubs -- to the mundane -- the monthly drawing for those who come into an office or store and drop their business card into a fishbowl. One restaurant offers a monthly drawing for a free meal for two. To enter, you simply put your cash register receipt in a box on your way out the door. The more often you eat at the restaurant, the more receipts you can enter and the greater your chances of winning. The restaurant chooses five winners each month, so its customers feel they have a real shot at winning. Some contests are based on demonstrating skills relating to the products sold or used by the company offering the contest. One woodcraft store, for example, offered $100 to the person demonstrating the greatest skill in making his or her first piece of furniture. More than 100 people came into the store to apply for the modest prize -- and most bought something while they were there. Some contests award the winner, or even every entrant, coupons good for a certain percentage or dollar amount off a future purchase. The use of coupons directly generates sales. The reduced-price coupon is a variation of the coupon contest that is much better suited for certain businesses, such as those whose products can be bought in retail or grocery stores. Most food packagers, for example, will offer reduced-price coupons whenever they introduce a new product. The idea is simply to get a person to try the product. If they like it, they might then buy it at full price. Cashing in on the coupon craze, distributors in many cities will package reduced-price coupons from different companies in the same envelope and mail them to target neighborhoods. This kind of cooperative mailing allows you to reach many potential customers for a very small price per customer. Premiums are an increasingly popular form of promotion. Joggers become unpaid, portable billboards when they wear a T-shirt promoting a company. Most businesspeople have received a coffee mug or T-shirt imprinted with a company's name and logo, but premiums don't have to stop there. Your insurance agent or neighborhood Realtor probably has sent you a calendar or note pad printed with his or her name -- and maybe even his or her photo. On your desk right now you probably have several pens promoting different companies. These premiums generally are inexpensive items that you can buy in bulk without breaking your company bank account. But some companies invest a little more in promotions, creating an identity with their name and logo on gym bags, for instance, or golf shirts or umbrellas. The free sample is yet another form of non-traditional advertising designed to whet your appetite for a product. Samples of a new bakery product might be offered in the hope that you will literally acquire a taste for it. This method is most effective when the cost per product unit is low, such as with laundry detergent or small packages of food products. Many people who smoke cigarettes today got started with a free sample. A non-traditional sales promotion will not replace advertising through newspapers, magazines, the Yellow Pages, direct mail, radio, television, billboards or other means. But it lets you supplement your traditional advertising with an inexpensive and very personalized method capitalizing on the fact that most people like to get something for nothing. Allen Fishman is the founder and president of The Alternative Board TAB, a national organization of advisory groups for business owners, CEOs, presidents and partners. Although he cannot answer individual questions, he will consider topics for future columns. Write to him at The Alternative Board TAB, 225 E. 16th Ave., Penthouse Suite, Denver 80203-1622 or e-mail him at: TAB