I nearly cheated

Today I’m going to talk about eating out, not because I’m a big foodie–although I am, but because it teaches you a lot about good marketing. My example is taken from the realm of ‘tourist restaurants’ (or at least restaurants in a tourist destination).

For me there are 3 stages to ‘selling’. Now, don’t think I am about to launch into a “How to close in 3 easy steps” guide here–so not my Thing when it comes to sales. What I am talking about instead is the 3 stages people (by people, I mean ‘prospects’ if we’re doing sales speak) go through when they are buying.

Or, at least, this is how I see it…

Who is it that decided what plants are weeds and what are ‘good’ plants?

Some weeds are very pretty, with flowers that brighten up the garden. Some weeds smell good, look good and are hardy so thrive where other plants need lots of care. Sometimes a weed is just a ‘good plant’ that’s growing in the wrong place…

But if you know what you want your garden to look like, you don’t want weeds there.

When something is good it always deserves a second (third, fourth…) viewing. I will happily sit through re-runs of Frasier, Friends & other classic TV shows. And I’m not sure I can count how many times I’ve watched Star Wars—especially now I’ve got my small people into the way of the Force!

I appreciate that not everything is worth repeating, but when you have a process or a system or a marketing campaign that works do a re-run. And then another re-run until it stops working!

If you want to take this quote in a literal sense—to me, it says that you’ll get paid if you ask for the sale.

And here you were thinking it was about riding into battle on your trusty steed :)

It’s an important point though. You need to sell your Thing. And that can mean being bold or brave.

Apart from being one of my favourite telly shows (who doesn’t love a bit of Kirstie and Phil banter while snooping round other people’s houses?), Location Location Location is an important consideration too when working out where to sell your products and services. I’m not an expert in Retail, but I know enough to know it’s important to choose a location that works–lots of foot traffic, easy parking–that sort of thing. And location is as important when you offer a service too.