Hold Monthly Clinics

Increase sales by maintaining in your customers the habit of regularly coming into your store. Give those who haven't been in for a while a reason to return. Opportunities to learn can serve as one reason. For instance, consider how Starbucks—a company that has seen noticeable decreases in store traffic—chose to launch their VIA™ Ready Brew instant coffee recently: Although you could order a free sample using a Starbucks website, the company put the real marketing punch into encouraging all of us to drop into a Starbucks shop for a complimentary cup.
     Successful retailers are always looking to use good ideas pioneered by others, and then to get even better results by improving on the ideas. So how might you improve on the Starbucks VIA™ Ready Brew launch? One way that comes to my mind is to hold a coffee tasting clinic.
     What sorts of clinics might you conduct on a monthly schedule to help your customers and prospective customers learn more about how to get the best from your products and services?
     Here are a few tips about holding these clinics:

• Distribute ads and press releases about the clinic a couple of weeks in advance. If store space is limited, require advance signups. In any case, get contact information for everyone who attends so you can develop a marketing list.
• Unless you've a public meeting area already set up in your store, you'll almost certainly need to do some rearranging of the store layout to comfortably accommodate the group.
• Take great care in selecting who conducts the clinic, especially if you're thinking of using the services of a vendor. You need someone who is a skilled salesperson. You also need someone who can answer any questions with expertise. This might mean having two leaders.