6/101 Relentless Marketing Ideas: Spur-of-the-moment Suggestive Selling Contest

For those running restaurants and retail outlets, boredom (yours, your staff’s and your customers’) is one of the greatest enemies of sales.

You've got to keep your team energetic and having fun. Always be ready to come up with a spur-of-the-moment suggestive selling incentive or contest.

Who can sell the most side items?

Who can up sell small juice to large juice?

It doesn't have to be serious: number of bumper stickers or postcards or mints or old logoed merchandise sold. It could be donations to Jerry's Kids or sign-ups for your birthday club, email newsletter or fishbowl drawing.

While most of your suggestive selling efforts should be calculated for the best profit bump or info capture, sometimes just set a goal that's fun or random. Appeal to the customer to help. The best is to set a goal for the whole team: If the team can sell so X many appetizers or X many premium beverages tonight, you all get Y.

Include everyone in the benefit, even support workers, to build teamwork & camaraderie and keep it fun.

[Source: Cracker Barrel does a great job suggestive selling. Recently, a server told us about the large orange juice contest she hoped to win. The prize was concert tickets and she wanted to see The Lettermen. Despite her musical preferences, she was a nice older lady and we all bought large orange juices.]

SHARE A COMMENT OR IDEA BELOW

Relentless marketer Sean Kelly is a 20 year veteran of the franchise industry, and founder of the award-winning marketing firm IdeaFarm. In 2006, he founded the FranBest franchise network, best franchise opportunities, the top new franchises, franchise marketing, franchise public relations and small business marketing. Contact him at seankelly[at]ideafarm.net.