The other day, I got a mailer from Victoria’s Secret. This is not the first mailer of this type they have sent me, which tells me that it must be working for them. So I decided to take a closer look at what they did to see if there were any strategies I could use in my own direct sales business to boost sales.

I got a few ideas I could implement immediately in my direct sales business, and here are just a few of them:

1. A “loss leader” can be an effective strategy to get people in the door. When you send out your show invitations, be sure to include some sort of giveaway to entice people to attend and/or bring a guest.
2. Add a twist: This mailer included a special discount on a complimentary item. This not only encourages you to come into the store for the free item, but also encourages you to actually buy something when you’re there. The giveaway is less than $10, and the discount is on a $50 item. You could make a similar offer to your own guests and clients: Give away a small item and give them a discount on a complimentary or matching piece from the collection.
3. It needs to be a win-win. Don’t offer them something for free that they wouldn’t normally buy. If you’re just giving away garbage, people will talk. They were giving away an inexpensive best-selling item in order to get you to buy the matching accessory.
4. A good giveaway will create buzz, so plan carefully. You want people to talk about the promotion. Remember when KFC gave away a free lunch? So many people talked about it, that they couldn’t keep up with demand and tried to end the promotion early. Be sure you can keep up with demand if more people than you expect decide to take you up on your offer.
5. A postal worker friend of mine gave me an inside scoop:  Victoria’s Secret actually sent out the same mailer with three different cover models. That means they’re still testing the effectiveness of the mailer!

Want more ideas? Watch the case study videos for the Victoria’s Secret mailer so you can see it and learn more about how to put these and other sales strategies to work in your direct sales business.

© 2010 Lisa Robbin Young.

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Lisa Robbin Young offers direct sales coaching and training to direct sales professionals looking to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at https://www.homepartysolution.com.

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