Marketing Like A Drug Dealer

Marketing can be a tough job. You have to be creative. You have to BOLDLY stand out among competitors in your local marketplace. You have to be inviting. You have to show benefit to the consumer. You have to put your best foot forward!

Your product or service has to be so good that your customers want to come back to you over and over. However, you do have to first convince them to try you out.

Think about this scenario. Someone has a product that is desired by a certain demographic of consumers. However, trust is often an issue prior to the first purchase. Therefore, a free sample is provided to show the consumer how great the quality is and to build trust. The consumer tries the product, decides it is worthy and makes a purchase.

This scenario sounds a bit like a drug dealer, doesn’t it?

While in no way do I condone drug dealers, their sales and marketing is a proven technique that is mimicked by many successful and legitimate salespeople.

Samples are great as long as you’re not offering illegal drugs. They are an important aspect of selling. Maybe your sample isn’t tangible, but it may be a photo of previous work. It may be testimonials from happy clients. Whatever it may be, you have to put forward a positive image to build trust.

Examples of Ways to Let Customers Sample (for Legal businesses)

• Restaurants can give out coupons for a FREE Appetizer. Rarely do people go to restaurants alone, so they bring friends or family who will spend money.
• Ice cream shops use free taster spoons to let you try the ice cream before buying your 3 scoop sundae. Try that jalapeno bacon chocolate ice cream BEFORE you buy it!
• Bars often give out drink tokens good for a FREE beer or wine. Who drinks just 1 beer at a bar?
• Wine stores frequently offer wine tastings. Once you taste a few, you find what you like and buy a bottle or two.
• Sam’s Club often has sample stations to promote sales of certain foods.
• Publix grocery stores have a program called Aprons that provides easy to cook recipes that they cook in the store to taste test to help promote sales of the necessary ingredients for that meal.
• Businesses that offer a service, rather than a tangible product, can offer FREE consultations, inspections, or a FREE week of service.
• All respectable graphic designers have a portfolio to show their past designs.

What a simple, yet effective concept this is. Spend a little time and money on free giveaways and make a bundle on new purchases from your customers.

Give your business a long hard thought about what you can offer for free that will not only attract new clients but will also spur on future purchases. Something about your business has that ability to hook people. For Perfect Imprints, we give out lots of promotional products. By doing that, it gives our customers ideas of how they can embrace the use of promotional items to promote their own business.

So go ahead and be like a dealer and watch your business grow. You won’t have to be continually looking over your shoulder for undercover po pos, but will have to look for increased sales. You can have almost an immediate response for this as long as you get the word out about your free samples and get them to the right buyers.