How to sell US$300 shirts:
A strategic sale alliance for higher-end products
A few months ago I saw an advertising campaign of a new business on men clothing- mainly on shirts. The ad was rather direct: a few brandless shirts folded up nicely with the name of the business on the side and, below it, a logo of the mall where they could be purchased. On a weekend, I went there with the idea of getting a couple of these shirts. The store was small with elegant interior layouts, well lighted and with great displays - filled with all kinds of accessories to combine with suits, shirts, pants, etc. I went directly to the shirts´ racks, grabbed one, and unfolded it. A saleslady showed up (from nowhere), voicing the price: “Oh, that one costs US$300, and those ones over there US$250.” ¡I was astonished! The shirt didn´t even have a logo embroidered or something showing off a brand. “Now, why would I pay US$300 for this shirt?” I asked. “This brand is famous in Europe, they come from there.” She replied. No benefits, characteristics, buying preposition (UBP)… ¡Nothing! Just that: “they come from Europe”.
The business was in an introductory phase, with a low advertising budget, no official website or a social network account (primary because of target market´s high profile and its brand prestige- same reason for not having in situ discounts either), with salespeople lacking in selling skills and in a developing world country…I wonder how this kind of business expects to be on the market for the next three years? First, having a website is crucial - a site that “sells” not a mere informative one, nowadays everybody can create its own web site with little knowledge on programming or designing for as low as US$10 monthly. Secondly, it is important to have salespeople trained & coached predominantly on product knowledge, sales and closingtechniques. And thirdly, de rigueur, to build up strategic sale promotion alliance when it comes to tightening advertising budget for higher-end products.
A superb three-month sale promotion, say, for this top shirt business would be to develop a strategic alliance with a dry cleaner store providing the customer one free year ironing! YES! One full free year for each shirt purchased starting on a given date assuming (and being a fact) that many customers have their shirts machine washed and look for a place to get them ironed. The knack of it is on the service’s arrangement “one ironing services per month, non accumulative, per shirt” meaning a total of 12 services yearly yielding a hidden discount of 4% (up to 12%) per shirt sold, depending on the cost negotiated with the dry cleaner who usually goes from US$1 to US$3 per shirt ironed.