Give to Get!

On our Spring Break trip to Jamaica we entered one of fifty similar shops in a native craft market. The savvy shop keeper promptly placed colorful FREE thread ankle bracelets on each of my two daughters while they perused the shelves for reminders of their trip...

...Twenty minutes later and $100 dollars lighter we walked out with two carved giraffes and one oil painting that will likely NEVER get framed. Oh, yes… and the FREE ankle bracelets. Pretty good ROI for the shop keeper, mon.

Another example...

After hearing a recent author speak about how to get published I visited her Web site with the intention of buying her new $15 book.

...Ten minutes later I had purchased her upgraded bundled set of books for $30. But I also had my FREE knowledge of how to get published.

We don't have to look far to know that FREE is the magic sales pitch not only for women with the last name of "Walter." Consider the history and success of promotions in retail and consumer goods - as well as for industrial and business-to-business sales and marketing.

"Buy one get one FREE" is a big hit in our local grocery chain. And we've seen "bonus packs" of FREE quantities of product and "volume discounts" work well for widgets of all kinds over the years.

Heck, even when you signed up for this FREE newsletter over the past few weeks I took out the "sting" of the inconvenience of having to confirm your subscription (in some cases for the second time due to SPAM regulations) by giving away FREE Trade Show Marketing Reminders.



FREE is good

It seems obvious but FREE is good. Always has been - always will be.

For one thing it gets attention. It also and separates and differentiates you from your competition.

In Jamaica we could easily have walked into 49 other shops and gotten a comparable set of products - maybe even for less money. But once those bracelets were on those ankles we weren't walking anywhere but toward the shelves and the vendor's outstretched hands.

FREE can also initiate a relationship. Potential customers like to know that you are willing to give them something for "nothing" in good faith to get their attention and, possibly, their business. And people like to buy from people they like. Who isn't more favorably disposed to someone who has just given them something for FREE?

FREE can showcase you and tease the prospect with a sample of what they could expect if they bought from you. This, of course, is the ploy used by consultants (this newsletter is a "tease") among others. One of my industrial equipment clients offers FREE factory audits to potential customers.



Make FREE work for you

The key to using FREE most cost-effectively is to use it sparingly. Don't cheapen your brand or image by constantly being "on-sale." And be sure to use it only in those situations where the reward is more than worth the risk.

Use FREE to increase your overall top and bottom lines by giving away something that has value to the potential customer but costs you very little. (Think thread ankle bracelets for teenagers.) Ask yourself, what would provide value to your customers and prospects?



FREE examples

Here are some FREE examples to get you thinking about what might work for you and your business.

• FREE sentiment - Send a card or letter to "lost" or inactive customers telling them how much you miss them.
• FREE expertise - Summarize trends affecting your industry and how customers can leverage these trends in the future.
• FREE reminders - Keep current customers coming back by letting them know its time to re-order, that the last day for ordering is fast approaching, etc.
• FREE goods with purchase - Make occasional offers to give away a smaller, lower cost item when a threshold sales amount is reached on other components. For example a FREE sprayer nozzle for every two spray guns ordered.

What can you give FREELY...

To your current customers to keep them loyal?
To inactive customers to bring them back?
To prospects to turn them into customers?

The answers to these questions could mean the difference between sales growth and sales slide in the upcoming months as the US comes out of the recession - and your competitors find creative ways to market and sell.



Call us for FREE

Not sure how to use this FREE concept most cost-effectively in your market? Give Mosaic a call. We will be glad to listen to your situation and offer one or two FREE suggestions. C'mon - give us a call!

Mosaic creates customers for business-to-business companies through specific project work, on-going retainer assignments or marketing coaching sessions.

Rosemary Walter
847-483-5018
Rose1Walter@MosaicMM.com

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