A couple of days ago I was reading the British business magazine Management Today, when I came across this Audi advert.

The advert is a two-page spread with the following copy:

Headline: The new Audi A8. No detail is too small.

Body: The sculpted gear lever feels as impressive as it looks.  Its flat paddle design supports your wrist when you’re writing on the MMI touchpad.  And because the 8 speed transmission is integrated with the sat nav, it selects the right gear for the road ahead.  In short, everything at your fingertips, from the gear you are in, to the music you’re into.  For more details visit www.audi.co.uk/A8.

Needless to say, I don’t think the advert is very good.  The advertising ROI on the ad must be really low.  A two page spread with only one paragraph of copy?  It’s crazy! If you’re going to take two pages, use the whole space for good copy, and work hard on selling your product.  Two whole pages just to show off the gear box?  Really??

To emphasise the point I made in the previous blog post, we small and medium sized business owners should not copy this type of advertising.  The big companies have the financial power, and often the reputation – but not always – to do well despite bad marketing.

A closer look at the ad

So what’s wrong with the ad?  Here’s what I think was done poorly.  First, I don’t like the headline too much, as it does not portray a benefit.  It does not grab my attention nor does it compel me to read the rest of the copy.  Second, there is way too little copy considering how much space they’ve used up.  The copy itself is not bad actually. It does a good job of translating features into benefits, which many car adverts don’t do.  Here’s a more detailed analysis:

- “The sculpted gear lever (feature) feels as impressive (benefit- and a kinesthetic one at that)…”

- “Its flat paddle design (feature) supports your wrist (benefit) when you’re writing on the MMI touchpad (feature)”

- Good use of the word “because”, a powerful hypnotic word.  For more on this see my article on persuasion secrets.

- “The 8 speed transmission is integrated with the sat nav (feature), it selects the right gear for the road ahead (benefit, but more a feature).

-  “Everything at your fingertips (benefit), from the gear you are in (feature), to the music you’re into (benefit)”

Like I said, the copy is good, but not enough of it.  Also, there is no offer.  Why should I visit the site?  Imagine your prospect sitting comfortably on his sofa, tired after a long hard day at the office, enjoying his afternoon tea.  You need to give him a compelling reason to get off his back side, walk to his laptop or desktop (assuming he doesn’t have an iPad or other wireless device next to him) and checkout your website.  A free offer of some sort maybe, or a gift voucher. Something!

Also, if I had been given this ad to write, I’d have made the photo much smaller, and used much more benefit-oriented copy.  Giving the gear so much attention is just pointless.  It exemplifies what is wrong with the advertising industry today, where the graphic designer is given more importance than the copywriter.  A problem recognised by the great advertising king himself David Ogilvey (one of my advertising heros) over 40 years ago.

Furthermore (wow, I actually used the word “furthermore”) surely an ad for a car as great as the A8 should actually show the car! It’s a beautiful car, and the ad does not do it justice at all.  I’d show the car in the main photo, and mention the gear lever in the copy, maybe with a smaller photo and a caption.

So, remember my friend you need to SELL in your ads, not show off and display photos, otherwise you’ll be pointlessly wasting your advertising money.  There is a saying among direct-response copy writers: “white space never sold anything”, meaning that every available space in the ad should be used to sell the product.  For more explanations on the basics of selling listen to my radio interview entitled How to Sell Anything to Anyone.

To get loads of FREE marketing and entrepreneurial advice, visit RadicalMarketing.com.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and talk to you soon.

What's the purpose of this ad? Translation: May the butterflies flutter in your heart. Really? (Ad taken from Layaleena magazine)

There I was, sitting in the car with my daughter Selma.  We’re in the gas station.  She asks me while we wait, pointing to a billboard  “Baba, why is there a sign with Zain written on it?”  “It’s an advertisement” I reply.

“But what does Zain do?” is her response.

Hmm , I thought.  Explaining what a telecom company is to an eight year old is not very easy, so I told her that they sell phones.  “So why don’t they have phones on the advertisement?” was her reply.

Smart girl.

This is an affliction a lot of big corporations have, they don’t actually advertise their products or services, it’s insane!  Here’s how it often works.  The corporate CEO or marketing director decides that they need a new advertising campaign (which they often don’t really need at all, but someone might be trying to justify their job).  So they hire a big advertising agency full of “creative” types who might have fancy graphic design degrees and “marketing” degrees (or the advertising agency has to do a pitch, but that’s not really relevant here).

Now remember, an advertising agency’s biggest goal is to win advertising awards, they want to look good in front of their peers.  Much like academics who crave the attention of their peers and therefore are under pressure to publish research all the time.

And the goal for most graphic designers is to improve their portfolio.  They have what you might call Portfolio Obsession Syndrome, or POS. Their clients’ sales and profit figures are rarely even considered!  It’s insane!

So the advertising agency shows the big corporate client the framework for a massive campaign, with lots of creative images, with often vague or cute sounding catch phrases that have absolutely nothing to do with their core business.  They justify that with corporate mumbo-jumbo and unproven statements like “people want to be inspired by brands”, or some such nonsense.  They might even throw in some fancy business jargon someone picked up from a copy of the Harvard Business Review.

The big corporate client, who doesn’t know any better, is impressed.  But of course demands a few changes here and there so that he can justify his job.  And then the campaign is launched.  The CEO feels good, because he can impress the board and his peers at the country club with the new campaign.  And the agency wins, impressing their peers that they got the account, and hoping they get a Clio (the image advertising industry’s most prestigious award).

No one really monitors sales.  They may or may not go up, and they very often go south.  Many an award-winning campaign had to be scrapped due to disastrous results.

It’s The Size

But most big corporations can get away with bad marketing due to their massive size.  The problem is when the small business owner tries to do the same.  He often speaks to a smaller advertising agency that will try to do something similar with him, and of course his size cannot carry him through.  He might go out of business because of idiotic marketing; that’s what I meant by marketing suicide.

Let’s take another look at the Zain advert.  If you did not know what Zain was, what would you guess that their business was?  Sell guitars?  Butterflies maybe?  Clothes? The ad doesn’t talk about the service they provide, the benefits to me the reader for buying from them, there is no call to action, no special offer.  Nothing, just some guy trying to impress a girl with his guitar.  Get my point?

What You Should Really Do

So as a small business owner, you should never go for such vague advertising – known as image or brand advertising.  You should go for “direct response” marketing and advertising.  Direct response  marketing tries to elicit an emotional, direct response by the reader.  The purpose is to make a sale.  Lets compare the two:

Image Advertising

1. Emphasis is placed on the brand and the company
2. Very few words
3. “Cute” copy and smart sounding catch phrases
4. Emphasis is on aesthetics
5. Tries to be creative and entertaining
6. Purpose is to win awards and improve portfolio

Direct response

Direct response advertising on the other hand:

1. Emphasizes the reader/prospect
2. Lots of words!
3. Copy is benefit-oriented
4. Emphasis is on making a sale
5. Tries to elicit an emotional, direct response by the reader
6. Purpose is to make you rich!

You can see a direct response advertisement example here.  So Mr. or Mrs. Small Business Owner, the next time you think of hiring a creative person, think twice.  And if you do, make sure not to be impressed with fancy images and creative designs, make sure to focus on selling your products.

I hope this was useful.  For your complete, FREE, marketing, e-course, visit Radicalmarketing.com.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and talk to you soon.

She was very excited about the newly opened Build-a-Bear Workshop in the City Centre.  She heard about it from a friend, and had seen the shop when she was in the mall on a previous visit.

On the way there Selma was telling me that her teacher said that Build-A-Bear was a rip-off, and they just wanted to get people’s money.  Granted, the place is not cheap, but neither is Disney and many other places that kids enjoy.  In my opinion, it’s not whether you’re cheap or not, but if you offer value for money.  There’ll always be someone who thinks you’re ripping people off, and you shouldn’t care about the ones who can’t - or choose not to – afford you.

I told her there was nothing wrong with getting money from people as long as you give something in return, and she agreed.  Last thing I want to do is raise my kids with an anti-capitalist or anti-entrepreneurial mind set.  The world is built on a (mostly) fair exchange of value.  And there will always be someone who thinks this is not right.  I’ve noticed over the years that teachers in particular seem to have a wealth-limiting mind set.  Anyway, that’s probably a discussion for completely different type of blog post.

Back to Build-A-Bear…

I’m a strong believer in good customer service, but that’s really an out-dated term.  The real goal for any business should be to provide outstanding customer experiences.  It’s all about the experience your customer has from first contact to last (often called moments of truth or MOT’s by customer service experts).  And let me tell you, Build-A-Bear provided us with a great customer experience.  Selma had a blast, and I had a blast seeing her so happy.

As the name implies, Build-A-Bear is a shop where you can create your own teddy bear (or other stuffed animal).  Selma first chose the animal, in her case a female chipmunk.  The next step is to choose a sound device.  You have several choices ranging from roars to girly giggles.  She chose a giggle.  The stuffed toy was then given a heart, and before being placed in the toy’s body Selma was asked to make a wish.

Then comes the stuffing! My daughter was asked to press on a peddle while the shop assistant placed the toy over a tube which had asma-free stuffing blowing out if it.  He carefully filled up the whole toy, then expertly sowed the back of the toy closed.  Selma then could “bathe” the toy with an air blower.  Then came the choice of clothes!  And her new best friend got a whole new wardrobe!

This was followed by the printing of a birth certificate.  Our new addition to the family was named “Dimza”  Dimza also got a closet for her new clothes.  All this splurging was generously funded by her grandfather (my father) who recently returned from a long medical trip abroad.  (”I want to give the kids some gifts” he told me.  “You already did…” I replied.  “No, those gifts were from your mother.  I want them to have gifts from me.  Here’ some cash, let each of them go and buy themselves a gift.” And so it was)

I have to say the staff there were really well trained (which makes all the difference), and very kid friendly.  Selma really enjoyed it.  It was early on a Friday morning and the place was quite full.  I suspect that they are doing very well for themselves.

As a marketer and entrepreneur, I love the Build-A-Bear concept.  Pure brilliance.  Instead of buying teddy bears, let the kids build them!  And to make more money, let them buy all kinds of add-ons!  There were dozens of choices of clothing as well as hand bags, sun glasses, pets, and other accessories.  What a fantastic niche!  I wish I came up with it.

A customer can just spend BD 11 (around USD 30) for the basic stuffed toy, to literally hundreds of dinars.  Between the toy, the wardrobe and the closet we spent BD 82 (USD 217).  And we did it with a smile

So what’s the lesson for you Mr./Ms. Business owner?  The lesson for you is to create really outstanding customer experiences for your customers.  And the second lesson is to figure out ways to maximise income during this experience.  How many up-sells, cross-sells and upgrades can you provide during this experience?  Remember, this is not about exploiting your customers, it’s about offering them extra value.  If you have ethical qualms about this, then I suggest getting a difference kind of career.  If not enough people are buying, then you know that something is wrong with the experience you’re providing, and you need to make some adjustments.  You should always try to turn your customers into raving fans, so that they come back over and over, and they tell their friends too.

Well that’s all for today, if you enjoyed this then make sure to sign up to my FREE weekly marketing emails at RadicalMarketing.com.

Thanks for talking the time to read this, and talk to you soon.

Discover How You Too Can Double or Even Triple Your Sales With These Powerful Secrets!

I’ve decided to write a more in-depth series on marketing, called Radical Marketing Secrets.  I’ll churn them out as often as I can.  Welcome to the first edition, full of real, juicy secrets that will just inflate your wallet, and cause you to giggle and laugh like a nine-year old girl skipping and dancing your way to the bank.  Sound interesting? Here goes…

Harken on to me entrepreneurs, marketers and salespeople… if you’re serious about increasing your sales, you’ve got to advertise, and if you want your adverts to be successful, it’s wise to do direct-response adverts (more about that in a minute).  And if you want your direct response adverts to be read, you’ve got to invest a lot of time and effort in the advert’s headline!

So yes, believe it or not, this blog post is all about headlines!  But before I go to headlines, let me pause at direct response advertising for just a moment.  A direct response advert is one that elicits a direct, emotional response from the reader.  This is in sharp contrast to an image or brand advert, where the emphasis is on the brand, and the creativity of the ad.  Basically, a direct response advert consists of the following elements:

1) A benefit-oriented headline.
2) Mention of the USP (unique selling proposition)
3) Benefit-laden copy.
4) An offer.
5) A call to action.

A direct response advert for Zen-Do Youth classes.

I’ll talk more about these elements in separate blog posts.  So, back to headlines.  The headline is by far the most important part of the ad.  Don’t ever assume, just because you’re in love with your ad, that people will read it – or even notice it.  They might give your ad a couple of seconds if you’re lucky, so for those couple of seconds, you better have a great headline that will compel them to read the rest of the ad.

Still not convinced?  Well, how do you decide which articles to read when you’re flipping through the newspaper (or it’s online equivalent?) The headline, right?  Imagine going through a paper without headlines, what a tedious task!  To capture your prospects attention, you have to have a compelling, attention-grabbing headline.

The headline represents 80 to 90% of the success of the ad!  And that’s why you need to spend so much time and effort into creating it.

Headline Formats:

There are some proven, effective formats that you can use.  I’ll show you 5 formats, with some examples for each.  I’ll keep one example consistent so you can get a better understanding of how the ads work.

1) Who else?

Who Else Wants To Learn How To Write Money-Making Headlines?
Who Else Wants To Lose Weight and Transform Their Body in Just 23 Minutes?
Who Else Wants to Have A Pain-Free And Healthy Spine?

See how it works? This format assumes that many are already buying the thing and are satisfied with it.  It grabs the attention.

2) How To.

How To Write Mouth Watering Headlines That Will Leave Your Readers Almost Magically Entranced…
How To Lose Weight and Transform Your Body in just 23 minutes!
How To Have Healthy and Natural-looking Skin in Just 43 hours – Without The Use of Dangerous Chemicals Created in a Lab.  For The First Time Ever! Secretive French Organic Dermatologist Reveals His Secret Formula Usually Reserved For The World’s Top Model

The “How To” format is a tried and tested formula that works with almost anything.

3) Discover.

Discover How You Can Get Greener Grass in Just 4 Days!
Discover The Secret To Losing Weight and Transforming Your Body in Just 23 Minutes!
Discover a New, Easy Way to Maintain Your Car At a Fraction of What The Dealer Charges You

This format assumes that there is something new, or unknown to discover.  It assumes that you’ve been looking for a solution and that you’ve now found it.  See how it works?

4) Announcing/Introducing.

Announcing “The Secrets to a Healthy Spine And a Better Posture” Workshop!
Introducing The New 23 Minutes Weight Loss and Body Transformation Revolution That Is Taking The Island By Storm.
Announcing The Country’s First-Ever ___________

This format assumes that there is something new that has not been seen before.  I suggest you only use it with unique new, or updated products or services.  At the end of the day, you want to gain your prospects trust and respect.

5) Flag your target readers: “Attention _____________”

Attention Business Owners!  How To Effortlessly Increase Your Sales By Using Powerful, Radical Headline Formulas!
Attention Dieters!  Discover The Secret To Losing Weight and Transforming Your Body in Just 23 Minutes!
Attention Retail Shop Owners!  New CRM Softwares Saves Up To 26.3% of Your Marketing Costs

This a very powerful technique to use.  Call out to exactly the kind of person you want to read your ad.

You Can Combine Headlines

You could say for example “Attention Arthritis Sufferers!  Announcing a New Swiss Treatment That Works in Just 21 Days.  Discover How You Too Can Reduce Your Pain By 91% – or Your Money Back!”  You can ad another headline – a subhead – to your main ad.  You can even have two or three subheads.

Anatomy of a Successful Headline

We recently launched a body transformation competition entitled The DreamBody Competition.  It’s a 12- week competition where the grand prize is my personal car.  Before I wrote the sales letter for the competition I must have spent a whole day thinking of the headline.  I went through my swipe file (a file of other marketers materials) and reference books, trying to come up with a powerful, stop-people-dead-in-their-tracks headline.  I sat down and wrote down 20 before deciding on the final one. (By the way, top copywriting trainers suggest you write down between 50 and 100 headlines before deciding on the final one!).  Here’s what I wrote:

1) Who else wants to win this car?

2) Who else wants to get their “Dream Body” – and win my car!!

3) Who else wants to win my car and get their DreamBody?

4) Announcing the amazing DreamBody Competition! Who else wants to …

5) Finally revealed… the 12-week competition that will change your life and give you the chance to win my car!

6) Who else wants to get their dreamBody in 12 weeks and get the chance to win my car??

7) How to get your DreamBody in just 12 weeks.  Announcing the …

8 ) How to finally (REALLY) motivate yourself to get your DreamBody! Announcing the DreamBody Competition.  Your chance to transform your body in 12 weeks – and win my car!!

9) Imagine an event so powerful… so life-changing that I’m actually going to give away my car for it! Announcing…

10) “They laughed when i said I would give away my car for a new and unique kind of competition!” Announcing…

11) Now you can (FINALLY) get motivated to get your DreamBody; get a chance to win thousands of dinars worth of prizes and win my car!!

12) Imagine getting your DreamBody in just 12 weeks, and driving away with my very own car!

13) Discover how you can finally get MASSIVELY motivated to get your DreamBody!

14) Unlock your hidden potential! Discover your secret motivational weapon to getting your DreamBody.  Finally revealed, the 12-Week DreamBody Competition!

15) Revealed! Your secret motivational weapon to getting your DreamBody.  Announcing the 12-week DreamBody Competition!

16) It’s finally here!  Announcing…

17) Incredible new DreamBody competition gives you the chance to get your DreamBody, AND win my car!!

18) Are you ready to get your DreamBody?? Announcing…

19) Discover how you can get your DreamBody in just 12 weeks!  Announcing…

20) Remarkable new competition will help boost your motivation and finally inspire you to get your DreamBody!

Here’s the final headline I went with:

Unlock Your hidden Potential!
“Finally Revealed!  Your Secret Motivational Weapon To Getting Your DreamBody.”
Announcing The 12-Week DreamBody Competition!
Who Else Wants to Enter the Competition, Melt Away Their Fat, and Win My Car??

What do you think?  Pretty cool, huh?  One of my personal favourites actually.

Once you’re done writing the headline, which will give you an idea which angle and direction the advert – or sales letter – will take, you can then write the rest of the copy.  I wrote a 12-page sales letter.  I then took some of the copy from it and created a full-page advert, shown below.

I’m happy to say that the campaign was very successful.  Let me end this post with some homework for you.  Before doing your next advert, sit at your desk with a pen and paper, and think of your business – or one of your products or services -  and draw three columns on the sheet.  Next, give each column the following headings: Physical Benefits, Mental Benefits and Emotional Benefits.  Next, in each column write down all the benefits you can think of that your business/product/service provides.  Really do this and spend lots of time on this!

Once you’re done, write down at least 20 headlines!  As you write them, think of different ways you can incorporate one or more of the benefits you listed on your sheet.  When you’re done, choose the best headline and do the rest of your ad!  Rinse and repeat!

How’s that for some powerful secrets?  Hope you enjoyed this

By the way, I do occasionally, and selectively do some copy writing for clients.  You might consider hiring me.  Find out more here.  And remember to sign up for my free marketing course at RadicalMarketing.com.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and talk to you soon!

I also bought some Hayao Miyazaki Japanese animation DVD’s.  The lady at the counter is extremely friendly and upbeat.  When I hand her the DVD’s she says something like “Would you care for our protection plan for these DVD’s? For just $1.99 you get complete protection for your DVD’s in case the kids scratch them or they brake!”

I politely decline.  I then hand her the Leap Frog box and again she says “We also have the protection plan for this you know.  For just $1.99 you get complete coverage for 15 months!  If anything happens to the product they’ll send you a cheque and you can buy another one.”

I again politely declined and tell the lady that I’m from out of town – way out of town.  She proceeds to tell me that the protection plan works anywhere.  I thank her again and decline the offer.

Did you get that?  Did you see the magic?  Toys R Us just added almost two dollars of pure profit to items sold by offering this protection plan.  That’s what they call an up-sell – brilliant!

What struck me more than this idea was the lady’s enthusiasm in selling it.  I bet she was either on commission or had a target to hit of x amount of protection plan up-sells.

Let’s just do some very basic math.  Assume that just 20 items per day are up-sold (and let’s make life easy and round up the amount to $2.00)  That’s 20 x $2.00 = $40 a day, or $280 a week and $1,200 per month.  Well, that’s not a big a mount, I can almost hear you say!

And you’d be right, it’s not a huge amount, but remember that’s “found money” – money that was not there before.  If we assume that 100 up-sells are done per day, that would bring up the monthly amount to $6,000, or $ 72,000 per year.  Now multiply that number by hundreds of stores in the US.  Are you beginning to see how powerful this is?

Of course they need to fulfill, and I’m quite sure the percentage of people claiming the cover is very small indeed.  Also, 15 months is not really enough time for the product to get damaged.  Speaking of the 15-month time period, I think it’s a bit of a rip-off.  It should be 3 years plus, or even some sort of life-time guarantee.

I can almost hear your brain saying “but I’m not in the toy business!” If you think like that my friend than you’ve missed the point.  My point is not for you to copy this exactly.  My point is for you to think outside the proverbial box.  Don’t think “this won’t work for me”, instead think “how can I make this work for me?”, or “how can I come up with something similar in my business?”  Consider that your homework.

For your FREE – yes FREE – e-marketing course, go to my Radical Marketing website.

Talk to you soon.

The Eid card I sent out with a photo of me doing a side kick.

If you’re on my (physical) mailing list, you’ll have received a Eid card from me, with some fake cash to used as a discount at either Zen-Do or the DreamBody Centre (DBC), worth BD 80.  The idea was to send you a “Eidiya” (tradition of giving cash during Eid) from me!

Quite an original concept I thought, and quite well received too.  We got a lot of positive feedback from this.  It’s my way of giving back to our customers, and encouraging those who have not tried us yet to come and join at a big discount.  (By the way, if you like the idea and want more such ideas, you might consider joining me FREE marketing course over at RadicalMarketing.com.

The “cash” we enclosed was based on the BD 20 note.  I went out of my way to make it look fake.  I intentionally repeated one face on both sides, and added the Zen-Do and DreamBody Centre logos.  Also, the bill was smaller than the real BD 20 note.

I also added a disclaimer, highlighted in black, saying “This is novelty money and is not usable as real currency, and is not redeemable for cash.  Can only be used at either the DreamBody Centre or Zen-Do Bahrain.  Offer expires Thursday 15th of October at 12:23 pm.  Terms and conditions apply.”

The inside of the Eid card with the fake BD 20 notes.

Last week the DBC Team Leader told me that a person complained saying that these notes were illegal and that we could not do this.  She politely thanked the person and forwarded the message to me.

I laughed at such a silly idea.  How can such an obvious fake be considered illegal?  I know international counterfeiting laws are very strict, but I thought that this was very obviously not counterfeiting.

Well, I guess I was wrong.  I got a call this morning from Sensei Vinod giving me a message.  He said “Um… Sensei, you got a call from the Central Bank of Bahrain…” and he gave the number of the person who had called.

I called the person back and he turned out to be really friendly and polite.  Also, he was quite high ranking in the central bank (CBB).  The conversation went something like this:

CBB Director:  Mr. Suhail you know that promotion you did with the fake BD 20 notes?

Me:  Yes…

CBB Director:  Well, you can’t actually do that.  It’s illegal.  Any copying of the nation’s currency must first be approved by the CBB.  Good thing you printed them smaller than the actual size, otherwise we’d have to be really strict…

Me: Sorry to interrupt you, but did you actually see my note?

CBB Director: Yes.

Me: Then you’ll have noticed that there’s a big disclaimer saying that this is not real currency.

CBB Director: Yes, but I’m afraid you still cannot do this without permission.  Besides, some one might try to give your note to a person of poor vision, or elderly person to take advantage of them.

Me: I see… is there a fine I need to pay?

CBB Director: No, this time it’s okay, but next time please take permission first.

Me: And you’re the person I need to contact for permission?

CBB Director: Yes.

Me:  Can I have your fax number please?

CBB Director: But you’ve already done the promotion.

Me: Yes, but I might do something similar again in the future.

CBB Director (laughs): Okay, my fax number is…

Well I’ll be damned!  The promotion was illegal!  Who’d have thought, right?  I certainly learn my lesson.  And I must say the gentleman from the CBB was extremely polite and understanding.  It was really nice the way he handled the call.

I don’t know how he found out, but ignorance of the law is not an excuse, as they say.  I don’t like it when people break the law blatantly, and I certainly would never do that intentionally.

Lesson learnt…

Talk to you soon.

So I thought, why not?  If you’re a business owner, or have a sales or marketing function in your job, then you’ll benefit greatly.  You might also consider subscribing to my FREE marketing e-course at RadicalMarketing.com.

Okay, here goes… The other day my wife and I went to the City Centre mall here in Bahrain.  I wanted to buy a standing punching bag for use in my home [I didn't want to be able to only do bag work when I was in Zen-Do.  And I was in a rush, so I didn't order from our US suppliers, which would have taken too long for me].

Anyway, I bought a bag for around BD 170 (USD 450) from the sports shop on the second floor.  They had a special offer; you get BD 5 for every BD 25 spent.  So we got BD 30 worth of vouchers – nice!

As it happens we went to the mall again about a week later, as my wife wanted to buy some rackets.  So we used the vouchers, and ended up spending an additional BD 10 (about USD 27) than the value of the vouchers.  The point is the vouchers worked! So the lesson is use gift vouchers! Had they not offered the vouchers, they would have only made BD 170, but because of them, the store made an additional BD 10 out of us.  But there’s much more to this.  Here are the benefits of using gift vouchers:

- A good customer service tool.  They surprise and delight customers.

- As mentioned, they increase sales and profits.  They create “found money.”  Money that would otherwise not have been collected.

- They create loyalty.  People like being rewarded and will reward the store that rewards them.

- (This is a big one) they create a habit.  We humans are creatures of habit and don’t like change too much.  Get your customers to make a habit out of visiting you, and they are not likely to switch unless annoyed.  This sports store has become the first place I think of when I need sports equipment.

Caveat! Never, ever take your customers loyalty for granted, which 99% of businesses do.  I remember going to the barbershop after not having used them for several weeks.  The guy there said “Oh sir! long time no see.  Were you traveling?”  No you you fool, I thought, I just don’t have a reason to be loyal to you.  Since I shave my head, I’m not too particular about where I go.  And since this barber doesn’t treat me particularly special (he doesn’t even smile when I walk in) why should I be loyal to him?  Be loyal to your customer before you expect loyalty from him, get it?

Another thing about gift vouchers, always have a deadline for their use.  Don’t let them drag for weeks and weeks.  I would say not longer than two to three weeks.

Going back to the topic of customer loyalty.  A store card is an extremely effective method for keeping customers loyal.  It increases the likelihood that your customers will choose you again rather than someone else.

And by the way, this store could be doing MUCH, much more.  For one thing, their staff are not very friendly (with the exception of a young man from the Philippines), and they don’t seem to be  that well trained.  Had they been friendlier and better informed, we probably would have spent much more money there.

Lesson Number Two

Okay, on to another lesson.  After we were done we walked into a shoe store [I don't particularly enjoy shopping, but somehow my wife manages to turn a 'hanging out' trip to the mall into a genuine shopping outing, but that's another topic]  When we walked in a young Bahraini man approached me and asked if I was looking for casual or formal shoes.  I was impressed (I’ll explain why in a minute).  I told him I was just looking around (I was there for my wife).  He then asked me if I knew what these shoes were about and I said no.

He then proceeded to explain that this brand was a unique Italian brand that allowed your foot to breathe.  Most shoes create sweat and moisture around your feet, but not these, he explained.  These shoes had special soles that allowed the moisture to escape without letting any in.  Thus giving you a much more comfortable shoe-wearing experience.

I liked this young man’s style!  I asked him a question I always ask good sales people.  I asked him if he received any special training from his company, or if this was his initiative.  The question took him by surprise, which it usually does.  The conversation went something like this:

Me: “What’s your name young man?”

Him: “My name is ________, sir”

Me: “well, ________.  I like the way you approached me.  Is this part of the training you received from the company, or your own initiative?”  The poor lad was taken by surprised, he obviously was never asked that question before.  He thought I was being sarcastic.

Him: “Umm, is something wrong?  Is there anything you’re unhappy about?”

Me: “No, not at all.  I just liked the way you approached me.  Did they train you on this?”

Him: “No sir, this is my style.”

Me: “I like your style…”

Him: “Do you know how our shoes work, have you heard about them before…?”  And so on.

So what did he do right?  Well, first and foremost he had the right attitude.  Good salesmanship – and success in general for that matter is all about your attitude; the  cup half full vs. half empty type stuff – is all about the attitude.  I presume he made a commission on every pair of shoes he sold, and he didn’t wait for the commission to fall in his lap, he actively went for it.  I bet he earned more commission that the rest of the employees combined.

The second thing he did right was that he asked me a question that did not give me much choice to refuse him.  He did not ask “can I help you?”  Instead he asked if I was looking for casual or formal shoes.  He did not ask me a yes or no question.  Whichever way I answered the question he could have then proceeded to demonstrate the appropriate shoe.  Poor guy did not count on meeting someone who is a bit of sales and marketing guru.

The third thing he did right was that he explained what made their shoes unique.  This shoe company has a nice story and a very unique USP (unique selling proposition) – and he knew it.

After I resisted all his well-intentioned and well-aimed sales tactics he asked me if I wanted to leave my name and number so that he could contact me when they had new stock.  This is the fourth thing he did right.  Again I politely said no.

A mistake too many sales people make when selling is giving up too soon. A customer may not be ready to buy from you now, but with consistent follow up, he may be ready to buy from you eventually.

So there you have it.  Some good marketing and sales tips that you can implement right away.  I’ll write another post about staff training in the near future, which sort of follows from this topic.

If you are a business owner, you might consider hiring me to help you grow your business exponentially.  I have to warn you however, I don’t believe in selling myself cheaply, and I’m extremely busy.  Consulting days have to be booked weeks ahead.  You can find out more at RadicalMarketing.com.

Thanks for reading this and talk to you soon.