BrainTrust Query: The faster you close sales, the more you will sell
Every salesman wearing
out shoe leather calling on prospects/customers knows the rule, "close
early and close often."
The reason is first and foremost that every sale is all about the close,
and the longer it takes to get to the close, the more likely you will never
close, thereby losing the sale. This personal selling principle controls
in-store digital media as much as any other sales scenario. While most are
focusing on the role of digital media to maximize sales ($$$), perhaps the
media's role in accelerating the process is not getting adequate attention.
We have known for several years that the largest portion of the typical shopping
trip is wasted, accomplishing nothing of economic value for the retailer,
and mostly contributing to shopper angst. This wasted 60-80 percent of shopper
time represents a vast untapped resource for additional sales.
Let's look at two ways of "intruding" on that wasted time.
In the first case, a
barely perceptible classical music soundtrack attracts shoppers' interests,
and leads them to emotional, non-verbal imaging on a digital screen associated
with fruit sales.The result was a significant sales lift.
The second example is more shopper-interactive, and is a handheld
"personal shopping assistant" (Modiv Media)
that communicates targeted offers which can punctuate the blank spaces between
otherwise likely purchases. The result of using that blank space to
make sales is that the average sale is "closed" in half the time,
with a consequent doubling of sales dollars.
Looking at retailing through "personal selling" eyes is likely
to be far more fruitful than the typical dry mechanics of merchandising and
POP displays, whether digital or otherwise.
Discussion Questions: What do you think of in-store digital media's potential as a way to "close a sale" or drive the final shopping decision? How receptive will shoppers be to seeing in-store digital media used this way?