A Lesson From McDonalds and Office Works
As I was driving from Sydney to Wollongong yesterday, I drove past an Office Works store advertising photocopies for 4c.
Now, in Australia that's a damn cheap price for photocopies.
In fact, it's about half the price you'll find anywhere else for low quantities.
And it got me thinking: Why do Office Works do it? Why provide such cheap photocopying, when they could get much more for the service? And the answer is really very simple.
It's the same reason why McDonalds offers ice cream cones (or they used to the last time I checked) for about 30 cents It's the same reason supermarkets advertise half a dozen of their specials in their newspaper ads and advertising brochures It's the same reason why 'happy hours' exist at bars And it's something you should consider doing to drive traffic into your business.
You see, while McDonalds and Office Works probably make small profits on their ice cream cones and photocopying, it wouldn't really matter if they didn't.
Because they'll make the money on what us marketers call "The Back End.
" "The Back End" is all the sales you generate from an existing customer 'After' they have made the initial purchase.
For instance, if you walked into Office Works and invested in $20 worth of photocopying, wouldn't you, perhaps remember you need a stapler...
and some new pens...
and perhaps even a new 3 ring binder.
And why not get it while you're there.
Same thing applies when your kids drag you into McDonalds for an ice-cream cone.
'Since we're here, why don't we get some chips and a burger.
' And then they end up making a lot more from the chips and the burger than they do from the ice-cream cone.
Interesting, isn't it? So what are you gonna do about it? Let's pick a few businesses and see how we can apply this principle.
Accountant: Offer low price tax returns to generate new business.
Art shop: Offer low cost weekend workshops on how to paint in order to drive traffic into your business (once they learn to paint, they're going to need equipment to paint with, aren't they?) Any retail shop: Offer the really popular products that everyone is 'highly aware' of in terms of the price at really good prices in order to drive traffic into your store.
Once they are there, they'll be able to check out what else you have on offer (at higher profit margins for you, of course).
For instance, when the next big craze happens like 'Harry Potter' a bookshop could offer the books at just over cost price in order to drive customers into their store.
And then add them to a 'Harry Potter' section of their database and send a series of other promotional 'Harry Potter' offers to them.
Here's something you need to remember: If you want to write good sales copy, you need to first think like a salesperson.
Just as a builder must do a lot of planning in order to successfully build a home which doesn't fall down, the success or failure of your campaign has more to do with the thinking you do before you put pen to paper.
It is more about strategy than about writing.
It is more about understanding your prospect than it is about understanding your product.
One of the reasons I have developed a string of advertising successes, and have been featured in publications like the My Business Magazine is because I learnt at an early age to think like a salesperson.
I did door-2-door sales when I was 17, and was the top telesales person in my office at the Novotel Hotels (selling hotel cards cold) about a year later.
Personally, when I look back, I think cold calling is one of the lowest leveraged ways of selling any product or service.
But what it did teach me was what motivates and drives other people.
So next time you write an ad or sales letter, draw upon your own experience.
We're all salespeople.
We all have wives, husbands, kids, friends, brothers, sisters, customers, waiters and waitresses, and co-workers we need to influence.
And you need to ask yourself, if I said what was in this ad to these people...
face 2 face, would it peak their interest? Would they listen? Or would they yawn and go to sleep.
Now, in Australia that's a damn cheap price for photocopies.
In fact, it's about half the price you'll find anywhere else for low quantities.
And it got me thinking: Why do Office Works do it? Why provide such cheap photocopying, when they could get much more for the service? And the answer is really very simple.
It's the same reason why McDonalds offers ice cream cones (or they used to the last time I checked) for about 30 cents It's the same reason supermarkets advertise half a dozen of their specials in their newspaper ads and advertising brochures It's the same reason why 'happy hours' exist at bars And it's something you should consider doing to drive traffic into your business.
You see, while McDonalds and Office Works probably make small profits on their ice cream cones and photocopying, it wouldn't really matter if they didn't.
Because they'll make the money on what us marketers call "The Back End.
" "The Back End" is all the sales you generate from an existing customer 'After' they have made the initial purchase.
For instance, if you walked into Office Works and invested in $20 worth of photocopying, wouldn't you, perhaps remember you need a stapler...
and some new pens...
and perhaps even a new 3 ring binder.
And why not get it while you're there.
Same thing applies when your kids drag you into McDonalds for an ice-cream cone.
'Since we're here, why don't we get some chips and a burger.
' And then they end up making a lot more from the chips and the burger than they do from the ice-cream cone.
Interesting, isn't it? So what are you gonna do about it? Let's pick a few businesses and see how we can apply this principle.
Accountant: Offer low price tax returns to generate new business.
Art shop: Offer low cost weekend workshops on how to paint in order to drive traffic into your business (once they learn to paint, they're going to need equipment to paint with, aren't they?) Any retail shop: Offer the really popular products that everyone is 'highly aware' of in terms of the price at really good prices in order to drive traffic into your store.
Once they are there, they'll be able to check out what else you have on offer (at higher profit margins for you, of course).
For instance, when the next big craze happens like 'Harry Potter' a bookshop could offer the books at just over cost price in order to drive customers into their store.
And then add them to a 'Harry Potter' section of their database and send a series of other promotional 'Harry Potter' offers to them.
Here's something you need to remember: If you want to write good sales copy, you need to first think like a salesperson.
Just as a builder must do a lot of planning in order to successfully build a home which doesn't fall down, the success or failure of your campaign has more to do with the thinking you do before you put pen to paper.
It is more about strategy than about writing.
It is more about understanding your prospect than it is about understanding your product.
One of the reasons I have developed a string of advertising successes, and have been featured in publications like the My Business Magazine is because I learnt at an early age to think like a salesperson.
I did door-2-door sales when I was 17, and was the top telesales person in my office at the Novotel Hotels (selling hotel cards cold) about a year later.
Personally, when I look back, I think cold calling is one of the lowest leveraged ways of selling any product or service.
But what it did teach me was what motivates and drives other people.
So next time you write an ad or sales letter, draw upon your own experience.
We're all salespeople.
We all have wives, husbands, kids, friends, brothers, sisters, customers, waiters and waitresses, and co-workers we need to influence.
And you need to ask yourself, if I said what was in this ad to these people...
face 2 face, would it peak their interest? Would they listen? Or would they yawn and go to sleep.
