I read an interesting story about Stew Leonard recently. When his dairy store was still quite new, Stew was asked by a local elementary school to talk at a business day. Stew didn’t know why elementary children would find the dairy business interesting, but, nonetheless, he agreed to participate.
As Stew drove up to the elementary school the day of the event, he immediately saw a fire truck parked outside. Nearby, he noticed a police car. Great, he thought, I’m competing firemen and policemen. Children will certainly find those professions more interesting than mine.
He was directed to his designated room for the event. Tacked on the outside of the door was a sign that read “Milk Business.” Inside he discovered three children in attendance at his first talk. Two of them were children of his employees. Not surprised at the low attendance, he gave his talk and, when he was finished, he handed each child a coupon for a free ice cream at his store.
The children left, and Stew waited for the next group. No one came. He waited fifteen minutes, and still no children came. He had about given up that he would have more children attend the next session at all when the door flew open. “I don’t know what you said to those children at your first session,” the principal exclaimed, “but we have to move your next session to the gym. You’ve got a packed house!”
Evidently, word of mouth had spread about the free ice cream, and every child wanted some.
Free is a powerful word. Sampling is a powerful marketing tool. How are you using them in your marketing? If you are not using them, find ways to employ them. Target their use toward your market. Stew’s offering children a free ice cream brought their parents into the store. Stew likely gained many sales from the parents coming for free ice cream. That worked so well that he now gives every customer who buys one hundred dollars of product a free ice cream.
When you use free and give away samplings, tie them to a high likelihood of a sale. Doing so will make the use of these powerful marketing tools profitable.
(If you have a product or service that you have difficulty sampling, use testimonials as your sample.)
This week's marketing trivia challenge is How have you used sampling in your business? E-mail me your answer.
As Stew drove up to the elementary school the day of the event, he immediately saw a fire truck parked outside. Nearby, he noticed a police car. Great, he thought, I’m competing firemen and policemen. Children will certainly find those professions more interesting than mine.
He was directed to his designated room for the event. Tacked on the outside of the door was a sign that read “Milk Business.” Inside he discovered three children in attendance at his first talk. Two of them were children of his employees. Not surprised at the low attendance, he gave his talk and, when he was finished, he handed each child a coupon for a free ice cream at his store.
The children left, and Stew waited for the next group. No one came. He waited fifteen minutes, and still no children came. He had about given up that he would have more children attend the next session at all when the door flew open. “I don’t know what you said to those children at your first session,” the principal exclaimed, “but we have to move your next session to the gym. You’ve got a packed house!”
Evidently, word of mouth had spread about the free ice cream, and every child wanted some.
Free is a powerful word. Sampling is a powerful marketing tool. How are you using them in your marketing? If you are not using them, find ways to employ them. Target their use toward your market. Stew’s offering children a free ice cream brought their parents into the store. Stew likely gained many sales from the parents coming for free ice cream. That worked so well that he now gives every customer who buys one hundred dollars of product a free ice cream.
When you use free and give away samplings, tie them to a high likelihood of a sale. Doing so will make the use of these powerful marketing tools profitable.
(If you have a product or service that you have difficulty sampling, use testimonials as your sample.)
This week's marketing trivia challenge is How have you used sampling in your business? E-mail me your answer.
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