Professional Distributor - 25

Devote a small 2' by 2' section of your mobile store to
what's new. Just like an endcap in your local grocery - you
see an advertisement on TV or in a magazine and the next
time you go shopping there it is right in front of you on an
endcap. Invite your customers to come into your store to see
your "new product" display and update this section often. For
more expensive items or items that come in multiple sizes,
it may be a good idea to just put a picture cutout on your
"What's New" board. This surely will solicit questions, which
will lead to sales.
And oh, by the way, don't tell me your mobile store is so
stuffed with fast selling products that you can't carve out a
2' by 2' section for a new product display board. We all know
darn well that you have an assortment of dogs you've been
driving around for the last year or two taking up space while
you hope they will sell. Pull those puppies out, rearrange a
little, and you're good to go.
If you can put the display someplace near the door, it will
attract more attention just like that endcap in the grocery
store or that pallet of wine inside the front door at Costco.
I realize that every five to six weeks your suppliers, either
your flag or a WD, have a new brochure of promotions that
are good deals for you and your customers. Sometimes those
promotions are for new items, but quite often they are just
as good at helping to sell old line products at a discount, and
there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Brochures and
promotions are excellent volume builders. Think about it this
way: it's up to you if you go that extra mile developing sales
with the really new stuff that no one else is promoting but you.
Be different, be bold, be successful. You might even consider
your own flyer to hand out with your monthly promotion

Short circuit your
competitors' promotions
You should absolutely have
the email address of all your customers
in a database. If not, you're missing a real
marketing opportunity. You hear that your
competitor has a promo on impact
sets and screwdriver sets this month.
Using Constant Contact or some
other email service, send all your
customers a marketing piece on
your similar products, hyping
some features your products
have that the competitors don't.

brochure. Call it: "New Stuff on the Truck".
In retail, the usual thought on new products is to stock
"one to go and one to show". This way, as soon as one sells you
still have another to show while you reorder a new backup.
If a product is selling, then maybe two or more for inventory
is the correct decision.
Many of the flags and WDs have a "new product" introductory program where new tools are discounted, given extra
dating, and have special return privileges if the new item
doesn't sell. If you are not aware of your company's program,
be sure to ask your DM, and don't forget to ask your favorite
WD, too.
One other point to remember: if you go through all the
effort of developing your own new product board, be sure
you read up and understand the major features and benefits
of these products. It would be a shame to get a customer
interested and not know what these products do.
We would love to see a picture of your own new product
board. Email them to alansipe@gmail.com, and we'll highlight
some in the coming months.
Now, go sell something!

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