Making sales easier for retailers: Strong digital fundamentals can pay dividends for years to come

by Dave Flaherty | September 13, 2020 1:25 pm

By Ben Poggemiller

Today, it is more important than ever for a business to have a strong digital marketing strategy in place.

Since the possibilities are nearly endless, it can be difficult for one to know where to begin or how much technical ability is required to get started.

That said, here are four easy strategies every pool and hot tub retailer can implement right now to make more sales, whether during a lockdown or to future-proof their sales process.

1. Making specific offers online

Many retailers use digital marketing in one form or another, whether it is Facebook ads, Google ads, or any other platform. However, in many cases there is no specific offer for people to take advantage of and, as a result, there is no incentive for them to leave their contact info.

Sending people to a generic website does not work anymore. With prospects experiencing dozens of micro-distractions in a day, the offer needs to be clear, specific, and easy to understand.

Simply saying “Contact us for more info” is not going to be nearly as effective as having an easy offer for people to take advantage of. People are increasingly wary of advertisers these days, so there needs to be a compelling reason for them to give up their contact information.

Therefore, having a piece of content or a special offer people can claim by filling out a form will accomplish this goal.

Some examples to experiment with are:

1. a) A consumer-friendly buying guide;
2. b) An exclusive offer like a gift card toward a new hot tub; and
3. c) A quiz to find out which hot tub will be right for them (as well as ballpark pricing).

This will greatly reduce ad costs, as once someone has opted in with his/her contact info, it becomes much more economical to market to them over and over again.

2. Tracking results and return on investment (ROI)

Most modern advertising platforms have advanced forms of tracking results to make sure ROI lines up with advertising campaigns.
That way, retailers can know, to the cent, how well their ads are performing. For example, Facebook uses something called a tracking pixel[1]. A pixel is a tiny piece of code inserted onto every page of a website. The benefits of this are threefold.

First, it is now possible to track not just clicks and eyeballs, but conversions as well. This means when someone fills out a form, an advertiser can easily determine exactly how much they are paying per lead and how well their advertising dollars are being spent.

Second, Facebook can now optimize to ensure even better results and cheaper leads of similar quality. For example, if the platform can see that most of the people who are filling out the forms are women between the age of 35 and 40 with kids, then Facebook is going to show a retailer’s ads to more people in a similar demographic to return more leads for less money.

Third, it is now possible to retarget people visiting the website. For instance, if there are potential customers viewing hot tub related pages, it is now possible to serve those people specific hot tub related ads on Facebook and Google[2]. It is one of the most powerful advertising tools available for businesses of any size.

Simply copy the tracking code from the ad platform to the code of a website, and results are tracked instantly. If a retailer does not have the technical ability or the time to figure this out, freelancers and agencies can typically set this up at a nominal fee.

3. Semi-automated follow-up

Follow-up is the single most important part of the sales process. When lead volume gets high, it can be difficult to service all those leads without a strong follow-up system in place.

This does not mean hammering people with sales messages over and over again, however. Telling people to “buy now” or to “act fast” because time is running out is not as effective as helping people through the buying process. Instead, try to engage people in conversations to give them the information they need to find the right hot tub and make a purchase.

While having conversations is still a human activity, there needs to be a system in place to get people to respond. This can only happen through automation, especially during spring, when pool and hot tub inquiries are peaking.

On one hand, automation saves time and effort in following up with new prospects. However, there is such a thing as over-automation. Individual buyers have specific needs and questions that need a human response to make them feel heard. The goal is to always engage people in conversation; the more conversations one has, the more sales one can make.

A higher ticket purchase like a pool, hot tub, or swim spa still needs conversations to convert interest into sales. A semi-automated follow-up system is a hybrid approach that offers the benefits of both. This mainly happens through email, but retailers can also use short message service (SMS) messages and phone calls to get conversations started.

Most retailers have an email system in place, but are not necessarily effective in getting people to respond. Examples of email platforms are ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, Constant Contact, or AWeber. There is a long list of email service providers, and nearly any of the major platforms available are capable of handling simple automation, prospect segmenting, and sequences.

The goal of this simple automation is to identify which prospects are ready to engage in a conversation right now. The majority will not respond, and this is perfectly acceptable, because additional automated content can be sent indefinitely until they are ready to engage in a conversation. When someone does fill out a form and responds, templating common responses that can be 90 per cent copied and pasted is a worthwhile time investment as it will save hours of follow-up time or salespeople.

The following examples are what the author’s company uses for hot tub inquiries:

Phase 1: Test responsiveness (automatically sent 15 minutes after prospect fills out a form)

Subject: Quick question, <first name>

Email: Hi <first name>, I saw you were interested in some hot tubs from us. Have you ever had a hot tub before?

Email Signature

Phase 2: Qualifying (once prospects have responded)

Email 1: Ok, great! Did you know how many seats you’d like, or not sure yet?

Email 2: <Personalize by responding to what they said>

If you could help me out with a couple details, I can figure out what we have that would be a good fit and get you some accurate pricing.

1. Were you looking to get one soon? (we have some special deals on a couple right now if so)
2. Is jet power or a therapeutic massage important to you?
3. Were you thinking of paying cash/credit card or doing a payment plan? We can usually get you a great interest rate OR a cash discount

Thanks!

Your Signature

Phase 3: Helping them buy

This one is more difficult to template precisely because it will be based on the prospect’s answers. If the salesperson is responsive and attentive, they should respond with more details fairly quickly. Use judgment and modify where necessary.

We carry <Brand X or Line X> and <Brand Y or Line Y> at <Business Name>.

Brand X is a very good tub, definitely an upgrade from some of the cheapo models and a great value for the money. For your situation, I’d probably look at the XYZ Model or the 123 Model (the Model 456 can be a little cramped for a family of 6). You can see the models available here: (insert link to brochure).

Brand Y is more luxurious with an upgraded cabinet, ice bucket, pressurized filter system and, of course, <unique feature from your brand>. You can check out more about that here: (insert link to brochure).

For Brand Y, I’d look at the Model 1 or Model 2 to start with and possibly move up to the Model 3 or Model 4 if you need more space.

Let me know what jumps out at you and I can get you an awesome deal.

Your Signature

After this process has been completed, the prospect usually knows which tub is the best for them and that the retailer’s salesperson is ready to help them make a smart purchase. Then, it is a matter of giving them pricing and arranging for a time to either have a phone call or meet up to finalize the sale.

By doing a triage of sales inquiries like this it can dramatically reduce the time spent with prospects that may or may not buy. This process also helps to warm prospects up to the point where they are nearly ready to buy.

Often, sales are made within minutes of getting on the phone or meeting with the customer, opposed to after an hour or more of answering questions, pitching, and selecting the right hot tub in person.

If people are not responsive to this process, then it is a matter of sending people helpful content over time until they are ready to respond.

4. Finding new and innovative lead sources

While the two most popular advertising platforms are Google search and Facebook, there is still a lot of opportunity to branch out to other lead sources. Many of these alternative sources can produce much more cost-effective marketing, especially in highly competitive markers with many retailers vying for the same advertising real estate. Fierce competition drives up lead cost and also buyer sophistication, so it can be difficult to stand out from competitors.

That said, one way a retailer can do this is
to explore platforms that are still untapped by the competition. Alternative advertising methods one can try include YouTube video ads, Google Display Network, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

These methods are not guaranteed to work, but setting aside some advertising budget allows for the potential to find new winning campaigns.

Conclusion

The old saying, “Little hinges swing big doors” seems made for 21^st century marketing. While making great offers and providing excellent service are important to any business, there are fundamentals like the ones listed above that may seem minor at first, but actually have massive impact on a retailer’s online presence.

In many cases, these fundamentals can be set up once and pay dividends for years to come. It only takes a little time investment on the front end.

Ben Poggemiller is the co-owner of Urban Life Pools & Hot Tubs in Steinbach, Man. He also owns Hungry Fox Marketing, a marketing agency that helps other retailers improve their sales and marketing processes by making sales easier and more profitable. He can be reached via email at ben@myurbanlife.ca.

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/features/making-sales-easier-for-retailers/

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