“Ads Don’t Sell – People Do!” by BIG Mike McDaniel
Advertising is not a replacement for good sales techniques and excellent customer service. Simply putting an ad in a newspaper to draw attention to a product line will not sell the goods unless it is backed up by intelligent and well-directed sales efforts in the store. Advertising’s function is to bring potential buyers into the store, and how you advertise, how much you advertise, and where you advertise can all contribute to the success or failure of advertising. The visitors who arrive must be converted into customers by the sales team.
It is crucial that everyone in the store is ready for the task when visitors arrive.
Merchants who believe that the success of advertising depends on hiding the promoted item and making the customer ask are mistaken.
Visitors may be too shy to ask and may leave the store rather than risk the embarrassment of asking for something that the store does not carry. To support the advertisement, the advertised products should be displayed in a conspicuous location with signage supporting the ads. However, it should not be displayed in the front window as it may lead the visitor to make a decision not to explore the store further.
It is not reasonable to blame advertising if visitors are not converted into customers, or worse, if they are driven away before anyone has a chance to convert them. Everyone in the store should be familiar with the items being advertised and be able to explain or demonstrate them. If there are no visitors, question your advertising. If there are visitors but no conversions, question your sales efforts.
Advertising will pay off 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, do not advertise.
To learn more about advertising, read Mike McDaniel’s article “Do Your Radio Ads Work?” or subscribe to his newsletter “BIG Mike’s BIG Ideas.”
