Ads Dont Sell - People Do !

More about advertising by BIG Mike McDaniel

Advertising is not a substitute for good sales technique and superb customer service. Inserting an ad in a handy newspaper to call attention to a line of goods will not sell those goods unless you can back it up with intelligent, well directed sales efforts in the store. Sales technique and service must follow advertising and unless it does advertising is a failure.

The function of advertising is to bring prospective buyers into the store; nothing more. How you advertise, how much you advertise and where you advertise, can all contribute to advertising's success or failure. Assuming you do an adequate job of promoting your products through advertising, the visitors will come. Your job, then, is to convert them to customers.

When the visitors arrive, everyone in your employ must be ready for the task. Any enthusiasm created by your marketing efforts will cool quickly if greeted by sour faces and dour attitudes within the store, or worse, expecting the customer to crawl under the counter or up a ladder to get what was advertised.

Some merchants believe a "test" of advertising is to hide the item promoted and make the customer ask. If no one inquires, advertising obviously doesn't work. People are basically shy and will not ask, fearing they didn't hear or read the ad correctly, since the item is not prominently displayed. Rather than risk the embarrassment of hearing "no, Stupid, we didn't advertise anything like that", they will leave the store, perhaps never to return. The first step to back up your advertising is to display the advertised products in a conspicuous location with signage supporting the ads. "Ah hah!.. this must be what we read about. Here it is!".

But NOT in the front window. For advertising to work, your visitors must be converted by your salespeople. If the advertised product is in the window, the visitor can make a decision not to explore further based on a quick first impression. At least give your salespeople a fighting chance to "one on one" with a prospective customer.

Don't blame the advertising if you can not convert visitors into customers. Or worse, if you run them off before anyone has a chance to convert them.

Everyone in the store should know the items being advertised and be able to explain or demonstrate them.

Question your advertising if there are no (or few) visitors. Question your sales efforts if there are visitors but no (or few) conversions into customers.

Advertising will pay handsome dividends when the service within the store is directed intelligently. Advertised goods should be displayed prominently and demonstrated easily by willing workers. Unless you can render such service, on a consistent basis, don't advertise. Sell out.

For more about advertising, get my article "Do Your Radio Ads Work?" [email protected] http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel All Rights Reserved [email protected] BIG Mike is a Professional Speaker and Small Business Consultant with over 30 years experience, http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

Subscribe to "BIG Mike's BIG Ideas" Newsletter MailTo:[email protected]

---

The Importance of Your Business Card

What are you trying to say with you business card?We... Read More

The Truth in Advertising

Most of us have seen at least a dozen different... Read More

Marketing Tips For Small Business ? Advertising That Works, Part I

Have you ever seen an ad on television that was... Read More

Advertising - Should You Be Advertising Your Services?

You offer a reliable, quality service. You know that if... Read More

The Man With The Grasshopper Mind

The title of this article also happens to be one... Read More

For All Those People Who Struggle With Benefits and Features

For Everyone Who Has Ever Struggled Sorting Out Benefits From... Read More

Unlock The Power Of Online Groups

Yahoo Groups: I see countless marketers on shoestring budges turn... Read More

Testimonials Convert Prospects Into Buyers

Big businesses get instant credibility with their well-known company name... Read More

How to Get People to Read Your Ads Like CRAZY!

Rule One :- The HeadlineThe headline should summarize the whole... Read More

Whats The Frequency?

The more things change, some say, the more things stay... Read More

Do Your Adverts Get You More Sales?

Philadelphia retailer and US Postmaster General, John Wanamaker, once said,... Read More

Advertising Basics for Beginners

So many of us who have decided to do business... Read More

I Dont Want to be Different

To succeed in today's crowded marketplace where most of the... Read More

Humor in Advertising

Many of the most memorable ad campaigns around tend to... Read More

Developing a Formal Brand Messaging Document

Ensure everyone in your company sings from the same sheet... Read More

Super Secret Tip For Using PPC Search Engine Advertising Successfully

It's not about traffic; it's about generating leads. That's right.... Read More

Double Your Sales Potential With Double-sided Business Cards

Swapping business cards is one of the most basic and... Read More

7 Tips for Better Ads

The content of advertising is basically the same no matter... Read More

What the Newspaper Ad Person Won?t Tell You

Newspapers are considered the PRIMARY advertising medium by 99.4% of... Read More

Push vs Pull Advertising

Push vs. Pull Advertising - Understand the Consequences for your... Read More

The Key To Marketing New Ideas!

Imagine tossing a pebble into a crystal clear pond on... Read More

Should You Advertise on TV?

When people discover my background in advertising, the questions flow.... Read More

Persistant Advertising Will Do No Harm!

From my experience, I've been on many discussion groups and... Read More

Buying Radio? Read This and Dont Waste Your Money

Pay close attention and make it work the best for... Read More

Is Your Yellow Pages Ad Putting Cash in Your Pocket... or Sucking Cash Out?

Any idea? It's a question that more than a few... Read More