During the holidays, most direct sales consultants add a few extra products to their home party display to encourage impulse buys and for customers to experience limited edition sets.
But what happens when you end up with a handful of seasonal items that are discontinued, no longer available, but are still in sellable condition?
It happens every year. Your direct sales company launches a bunch of ‘holiday must-haves’ just in time to boost your bottom line and entice your buyers to spend more when they’re already in a spending mood.
It’s a great sales strategy. It’s akin to an upsell on steroids. Not only is it time sensitive, there’s a limited quantity, so those products are sure to go fast.
Problem is, sometimes they go TOO fast.
Invariably, one product outshines all the others, and when you come home to enter the show order – poof, they’re sold out.
5 Tips to Boost Holiday Sales & Deal with Dreaded Seasonal Leftovers
#1: Use limited editions sets as cash & carry at your shows – Display and “romance” them, but don’t demo them. When you talk up a product that people can’t try, it creates a psychological “gotta try it” mentality. The people that want it will often buy it right off your table.
#2: Take ‘back-up orders’ for items that are likely to go out of stock or on backorder during the holidays. This keeps the show sales from dwindling due to stop-sells. It also helps you learn your catalog better because you’re looking for alternatives to the seasonal products. Demo the alternatives so that you’re selling the seasonal items off your table.
#3: Consider online shopping parties – For folks on the go, they can shop from where they are in a chat room like Momchats.com or a video room using a site like Ustream.com. Guests can enjoy interacting with each other, playing games, and winning prizes just like an in-home party. No travel required. You can use the “leftovers” as prizes for the games. You’ll have to get contact info for shipping the prizes, which gives you the opportunity to follow up. Follow-up is critical to maintain customer relationships.
#4: Target the holiday market with online advertising – Cyber Monday is a great opportunity to sell more without leaving home. Use facebook ads to target specific customers with your offerings, or use Google Adwords to reach a broader audience. Either way, you can set it up so that you’re only paying when someone clicks on your ad and visits your site. It’s a great tool to not only sell more, but generate more leads for your direct sales business.
#5: Use my “Priceline Strategy” at your shows – Take a bag of unused demo merchandise to your parties and let each guest place one bid for the contents of the bag. Highest bid wins, as long as they meet your minimum. Because guests can only bid once, you’ll sometimes get bids for more than the retail value of the products, especially if you have discontinued or hard-to-find products in the bag. The purchase price is added to the host’s show total and you walk away with instant profit (not to mention fewer “leftover” products in your inventory). It’s a win-win for everyone.
Not every strategy will work for every company, so be sure to check your company’s rules and policies. These five tips are just a few ways to make an even bigger splash this holiday selling season.
In addition to founding #dstips on Twitter, Lisa also publishes the popular and highly recommendedPartyOn! A weekly ezine for direct sales professionals. Get your free business building tips at Home Party Solution.com.
4 Comments
Lisa, as a veteran in DS for about 17 years, I totally agree with and love your tips!
Sarah Cook, http://RaisingCEOKids.com
Thanks! I had to learn some of this the hard way, so if these tips can help others not make the same mistakes, I’m all about helping where I can. 🙂
I love your tips! Thanks so much for sharing. Will definitely be trying some of them this season.
Super! Be sure to let us know how it works out for you!