Marketing 101: A Sale Is Much More Than Just a Sale
If you’re thinking about having a sale, or special event, it’s much more than a bunch of signs and flags. More than buying some additional inventory. A sale is all about the plan.
What are you going to sell? How are you going to sell it? What is the messaging for the sale? What are the talking points for the staff? What is the process? The step by step process that leads to a close? Putting up a sign that says “sale” or “special” doesn’t actually make it a sale, and it certainly doesn’t lead to any kind of successful event if you don’t have a plan.
Sometimes these plans are born out of necessity. Those are the best kind. About a quarter century ago I was a brand-new General Sales Manager at a Chrysler Jeep store. I had been on the job for maybe six months. The owner took a month-long vacation in December every second year, and this was the year. He would leave for the month and leave the controller in charge. Controllers are accountants for the most part. Not salespeople, so he and I didn’t exactly see eye to eye all the time. He was always kind of nervous and excited.
The best plans are born out of necessity.
Back in the day, leasing was really my thing. I could do them in my sleep. Especially used car leases and trying to find makes and models that made for cheap payments. One day while I was playing around with some Chrysler leases, I noticed that used Caravans if bought at a certain cost threshold would make for very attractive lease payments. It was early December and the owner had just left on vacation. The used car manager was off to the auction. He went there every Wednesday right before he went to the bar. I grabbed him in the morning and told him, “Any Caravans you can buy below this price, in this model year with under this mileage, buy them.”
Now at the time I had no idea that there would be so many vans available for so cheap. It was December I guess, and there was a crap load of three-year-old vans being sold off. This was back in the heyday of manufacturer leasing, just before they were about to take that giant bath on the lease comebacks, and the auctions were filled with off-lease domestics. Next thing I know the controller is in my office. “What did you do?” Man, he was upset. “Did you tell Bob to buy 100 Caravans?”
“Uh... no. Not really. I told him to buy as many minivans as he could at a certain price.” The controller was literally bouncing. He leaves my office.
Ten minutes later my desk phone rings. It would be the owner from halfway around the world. “Andy what did you do?”
I assured him. “Listen, don’t worry. I’ll sell the vans.” He was friggen’ mad too. That was $1.5M worth of used vans 25 years ago! In December!
The customer would call and get a speech about a “special purchase of 100 vans, low payments, first come first serve”.
The ad was simple. Special Purchase. 100 used vans, starting at $0 down and $199 a month. Even back then, that was a great deal. The customer would call and get a speech about a “special purchase of 100 vans, low payments, first come first serve” and away we go, traffic. The customer would arrive and get led to a row of 100 vans, getting shorter daily, where the first van was a 4-cylinder, 5 passenger, no AC Caravan. They actually had those back then. The customer would get walked to the van, get shown that one, and guess what, they didn’t want it.
“Oh, is a six cylinder important? AC? How about seven passenger?“ Predictably all important.
“Are these more money?” A predictable question.
“These are all on sale, let’s pick out the one you like the most and I’ll get you the payment.” The customers eagerly picked out the colour they liked and the lowest mileage. The nicest one, of course.
They drove it, sat down with the sales rep, and it went like this. 36 month lease. Zero down $199 per month. Low mileage lease. $25 more a month for more mileage. $25 more for AC. $25 more for a six cylinder engine and again for seven passengers. This van, only $299.
The two most powerful words in the salesperson’s handbook are “what if”.
“What if,” the two most powerful words in the salesperson’s handbook. “What if I can get you the AC for no charge?” and so on. A deal every single time because we could do all the vans at $249 if we had to, and make money. We could even add a service contract for $49 per month.
That $199 was a huge draw. Nobody wanted the $199 van. Couldn’t even believe a 4 cylinder, no ac, 5 passenger Caravan even existed. The extra $25 per month for each item made sense to the client. It was easy to present. The objection was planned. The “what if” was planned. Even the close was planned. Obviously each client picked out the nicest van left, and which one of course would be the next to sell if they didn’t buy it? That’s right, the one they were looking at, obviously because it was the nicest one.
Day after day, van after van. The salespeople were having their best December ever and so was the store.
By the time the owner returned from vacation we had sold all those vans, made a ton of gross and were already reloading at the auction. Because we had a plan. A plan for the ad. A plan for what the salesperson would say when someone called on the ad. A plan for what the salesperson would do with the customer when they landed. A plan for selection, close and even an upsell in the business office.
That’s the point. A bunch of flags and signs isn’t a sale. A sale really isn’t a sale unless you have a plan. A plan for every step. The inventory. The marketing. The sales process. And the close. Even the upsell. Every step planned. That’s a sales event. Good luck and good selling.
Ready to generate leads for your business? Schedule a demo today!
Have questions? No problem — we're here to help. Contact Us"