Making Contacts and
Selling
Make your list and work on one category a week
I use a 4x6 box to keep all contact cards and door prize drawing slips from
events. I keep their name and contact info, what they bought, what info I
talked to them about, what they may need in the future, and when to call them
next.
Call the contact asking if you can send them free information of Children's
safety and your fundraiser program or free child safety class options or a
party? (decide in advance what your desired outcome is and what to offer them)
If
an organization: Ask who to send the materials in attention to.
Send
all the contacts info at once and then call back one week later.
Ask
if they got the material? Do they have any questions? When would they like to
schedule their FREE event?
If
they say no ask if you can provide free flyers for all the children/parents in
their organization or for their friends.
The
KEY is the call back. Do not assume they will call you back. Do not waste your
money sending them out and not follow up.
Turn
any NO into at least sending free flyers home with all their kids or parents.
Have
a form on your web site that lets people order free flyers for their
organization or event.
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Are you
branding your business name and web site?
Have it
on ALL business materials, flyers, cards, emails, etc.
Help
people to always associate you with your business name
Donate
items /profits to charity in your business name
Send
business cards with your business name with all mail and all payments in
person
Wear
clothes with your business name or name tag
PR public
relations is all about image and reputation and credibility. It
is who you are and why anyone should care. Marketing is benefit and feature of
your business
from
Nancy at http://byourshoestrings.com
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What
to take to an event:
I make a trifold foam board display.
I make a sign
Add border or colors stickers or foam hands
Make a drawing box and have lots of drawing slips asking:
Do
you want more info about:
~buying products
~50% off with home business
~hosting a class
~fundraiser info
~join my newsletter (get email address)
Have
lots of flyers and business cards to give away
Have some products for sale. Show prices clearly!
Never leave your table with products on it. People will steal them.
I
swap my flyers with other business owners. I get them to send me coupons for
their products. I make up FREE COUPON PACKS for parents and hand them out with
my info
Stand
up, smile, talk to everyone who walks by:
comment on their cute kids or
ask if they would like to have free coupons or
ask if they would like to sign up for the drawing
Most
events are more about leads then selling. After the event mail every lead slip
a flyer and a coupon. Call all leads that asked for information.
I take candy to give away. nothing with peanuts and nothing a child can choke
on. Maybe
individually wrapped gummy bears. You can also have magnets, pens, bookmarks
to giveaway.
If
I take my 15 yr daughter with me I take either a hand print rubber stamp and
stamp kids hands. Or a stamp pad and little pieces of paper that says
individually of My precious Kid, then we do one thumb print for them to take
home. Diaper wipes cut in 3rds will take off the ink.
I
load everything in a large suitcase with wheels so I can roll it in and put it
under my table to hold inventory and supplies. Set up your display at home the
first time to find your look. I do a solid red color table cloth on the table
too.
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Another thing we learned:
Don't advertise that there are other ways to buy the
products until they ask if you have an order form or website or until they
make it clear that they aren't going to buy there on the spot. We found that
if we told people right away about the website or gave them an order form,
it gave them an excuse to not buy right then.
Some important things that we learned at the Baby Expo:
-
Don't overload your display with every product. We
re-did the arrangement of the products on our display (we had samples
attached with Velcro) about 4 times trying to find what would work best.
We started out with a sample of every single item. We learned that this
is too overwhelming so we kept scaling back until we only had a few key
items on the board. People get overwhelmed when there is too much to
look at.
-
Don't try to talk to the customers about all the
different products. Again, it is too overwhelming. We learned to focus
on one or two products depending on who we were talking to. For
others, we would recommend specific items.
-
We learned to quit giving all the details about the
products and instead focused on what benefit they would receive from the
products.
-
Make it personal. We would incorporate their child's
name in the conversation when we could.
-
Definitely do a drawing. The drawing was the biggest
factor in getting people to stop at our booth. When people acted like
they were just going to pass us up, we would ask them if they would like
to enter our drawing. Only 1 or 2 people said no and kept going.
Everyone else entered the drawing and stayed to find out what we had to
offer. We got names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers. We
also put on the drawing slips. Like I said above, we got lots of leads!
-
Like Kay stresses to us: Stand up and smile, smile,
smile. If you act happy to be there and excited about what you offer,
then people will respond accordingly. We saw many other booths at the
expo where the exhibitors just sat looking bored so people didn't bother
to look at their booths. A guy selling cell phones and plans for XYZ
company was on our aisle. He spent the entire weekend on his cell phone!
Maybe he thought that he was showing the benefits of owning one or maybe
he just didn't care. Either way, NO ONE wanted to stop at his booth. I
use XYZ and have been wanting to change my plan. I would have been his
customer if he had made himself available. Make sure people know that
you are there to help them and answer questions.
-
Network, network, network! My husband and I would take
turns during the slow times to go talk with other exhibitors. I met a
lady who makes and sells nursing positioning pillows. She wants to share
a booth at a huge craft fair in the fall. We met other people who gave
us info. on other events and fairs that we could participate in.
It pays to network!
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Who to Call:
1. All the OB/GYN
Doctors in the phone book
2. Scout troops in your area (call the scouting office)
3. Local schools in your area
4. Local Mom's Club or Mop's group
5. The hospital's : new moms groups, breastfeeding groups, gift shop)
6. Children's Resale Shops
7. Car Dealerships in your area (they may buy to give away with car
sales)
8. Insurance agencies in your area (they may buy to give away)
9. Realtors in your area (they may use to give away)
10. Large corporate companies - employee relations (do a lunch time free class
for parents there)
11. Chamber of Commerce- leave flyers there
12. Welcome Wagon - put flyers in their baskets
13. Local area gyms - leave a flyer rack or drawing box
14. Hair and Beauty Places - leave flyer rack or drawing box
15. Preschools and Day Care Centers
16. Park District - Ask about teaching a class
17. Community College - Ask about teaching a non-credit one day class
Places to Leave Catalogues:
1. Doctors offices
2. Dentists offices
3. Mechanics waiting rooms
4. Laundromats
5. College campuses
6. On backs of stalls in Restrooms
7. Library
8. Beauty Parlors
9. Tax Preparation Offices
10. Orthodontist Offices
11. Insurance Offices
12. Dry Cleaners
13. Dairy Queen/Baskin Robins
14. Bagel shops
15. Donut shops
16. Deli's
17. ATMs
18. veterinarians
19. nail salons
20. Day care center
21. Retirement homes
22. Model home centers
23. Real estate agents offices
24. 7-11's or corner stores
25. In front of magazines at the check out line of the grocery store
26. With your Tip at a Restaurant
27. With toll booth collectors
28. Grocery Store Clerks
29. Video Stores
30. Dressing rooms
31. With fast food clerks
32. With Bank tellers
33. Shoe stores
34. Kids Resale shops (Lots of Moms)
35. Gymboree centers (Lots of moms)
36. Temporary Staff Offices
37. Flower Shops
38. Restaurants
39. Pet Stores
40. Dance Studios
41. Grocery Stores where you leave your ads.
42. Mortgage offices
43. Computer stores
44. School Administrative Offices
45. Fabric stores
46. The Bakery
47. Print Shops
48. Cashiers at the dealerships
49. Tanning salons
50. Vitamin Stores
51. salespeople at Sears, Kids R us and Toys R Us, Target, Kmart,
52. Senior Activity centers
53. Walk-in Medical clinic's waiting room
54. Credit Union
55. Restaurant Supply store
56. Park benches
57. Bus Stop benches
58. The Pharmacy
59. Bowling Alleys
60. With the Clerks at the Post Office
61. Gas Station attendants
62. Movie Theatre Lobbies
63. Print Shops
64. Furniture stores
65. Donut Shops
66. Jewelry Stores
67. Fitness Centers
68. Nursing Moms Rooms
What about their friends
and family? Ask for leads from everyone! Have you checked out
everyone in your circle? Not juts your circle of friends but how about the
teller at the bank? When you make your deposits, can you see any pictures
of kids near by? Give her or him a catalog and offer a free gift or a
small discount for either placing an order or hosting a party. How about
the gal in the grocery store? You know they one in the baby isle?
Yea, the one shopping! Have you told her about the fabulous products you
sell? Give her a catalog! Get her name and tell her you would love
to call her later and tell her some ways she can prevent her baby from a child
abduction! Do you have a hospital near by? Ask to speak to the
person in charge of the huffy puffy breathing classes. See if you can add
some literature to the free bundles of info they give out to their clients and
new parents. How about the library? Have you ever seen a mom and her
child there? Do they offer some kind of mom and me days? See if you
can get in there and do a class for them. Don't get discouraged! For
every NO that you do get there will be 10 YES's!!! Just look outside of
the box! Hold your arms out at your sides, stretch them way out there as
far as you possibly can. See where your fingertips stop? Go beyond
there to find your next resource!! Step outside of your Box and talk to
anyone who will listen! You will have huge success in this business as
long as you go the extra mile! Trust me!
