Turning Your Hook Into A Sale: Part 2

Once you have created a really compelling offer that “hooks” potential customers, you should be prepared for those potential customers to come into your place of business.

This is where your “marketing” hands the baton to “sales.”
Remember, the best test of marketing is whether or not it results in people talking about your business and most importantly visiting your business.
The whole point of the “hook” is to get them IN.

Here is where most business owners drop the ball.
They think that the mission is accomplished when a potential customer steps through the door.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

When people step through your door, your most important job becomes to affirm their decision to visit your business. Otherwise, you'll end up with the one-time visitors who only purchase the $11 item with their $10 gift card.

There are three ways to assure your customers that they've made the right decision to shop with you.

1. Make it obvious that they are welcomed
You'd be surprised at how often this is overlooked.
But if you really think about it, how often do YOU remember being greeted upon entering a store? Can you recall what words are said or better yet, can you remember the face who greeted you?

Probably not.

Most business owners (and especially their staff) are too afraid of being “salesy” or “hovering” over their customers. And it's true, you don't want the negative feeling we've all experienced at one time or another of an overbearing salesperson. However, most of us highly overestimate the likelihood that genuine hospitality will be received as “salesly.”

In this day and age, when you can order products or services from the comfort of your home, it is imperative that we go the extra mile to show appreciation to those that do come into our store!

• Ask open ended questions.
• Make it known that you work there (or are the owner).
• Make it obvious that you are eager to help them.
• Tell them a little bit of your “story” (WHY you do what you do).

2. Have something of value (beyond your “hook”) to offer them.
This is the best way to turn a “hook” into a bigger sale and create a greater sense of value to your customers. Have a higher margin product that compliments your offer or an educational resource that your customer will most likely find valuable if they're redeeming your offer.

This allows you another reason to interact with your customer and to offer them something of value. It affirms that your customer has made the right decision to do business with you and helps to establish you as an expert in your business.

3. Make it memorable.
This is really the key to an experience.
Make sure the customer has some reason to remember their visit with you.
Whether it's a conversation, a glass of champagne, or bag of popcorn, strive to offer something that your customer can remember about coming into your business.

Think this sounds too “fluffy” or “un-measurable?”
Think you can't afford to spend the money on “extras?”
Consider this fact:

Every business, on average, loses about 15% of their customer base each year. Of the customers who leave, 86% say they do so because of “indifferent customer service.”

Indifferent is defined as “having no particular interest or sympathy; unconcerned; neither good nor bad; mediocre.”

They do not leave because of an outright negative experience.
They do not leave because you drop the ball and make a mistake.
They do not leave because you have higher prices or inferior products.

They leave because they aren't convinced their business matters to you.

The next time you go shopping, notice how you are treated by the staff.
Do they greet you? What do they say? When do they speak to you?

Chances are, at most businesses you don't genuinely interact with a human until you're in the checkout line. And even then, it's usually minimal and forgettable.

So, don't make the mistake of getting potential customers into your store using an irresistible offer (or HOOK) without having a plan of what to do when they walk through the door. Be so confident in your in-store experience that you know they will become a customer if you can just get them IN.

There's no need to be afraid of offering something irresistible if you are confident you can convert those leads and offers into lifetime customers.

• Let them know you CARE that they entered your door
• Give them more value and establish yourself as the expert
• Make it MEMORABLE

In the next post, we'll cover the last step of creating lifetime customers:
Follow Up.

Unless you're in a high price service industry, you've probably never had a customer service plan for after the customer leaves your store. I'll explain how you can create a simple way to follow up with your customers after they've made a purchase.