Guest Blog Post by Karl Palachuk
Many of us count on back of the room sales as an important source of revenue. I’ve made presentations to crowds from a few dozen to many hundreds. In all cases I’ve tried to maximize revenue from back of the room sales. As strange as it sounds, the most important part about on site sales is that you have_some strategy rather than no strategy.
Here are nine quick tips to maximize your on site sales.
1. The first rule is to consider every aspect: The Sounds, the Smells, the Interactions. Approach your event like Starbucks or
2. Provide the most enjoyable experience possible. That means you need to give more than your attendees expect. Be professional and provide the best interaction you can. That means you should spend a little on name tags and handouts. Little things count. If you don’t use colored paper, then print in color. Don’t come off as cheap.
3. Before the Seminar, collect as much information as you can. Registration should include a lot more than email addresses. Whether you’re being paid or doing the show for free, it is very reasonable to collect complete contact information. That means you should gather the information needed to add attendees to your (postal) mailing list as well as your email list.
4. Hand out great materials. If nothing else, you should have a printout of your slides. But with luck you have a really great handout that either engages the audience in participation or highlights the most important points in your presentation. Any handout should include your contact information, including web site and email address.
5. Hand out a price list/order form. Even if you only have one product for sale, you should put together some kind of sales order form that includes all of your contact information. If you have multiple products, including products from other authors, you should also include package deals. People don’t want to feel “sold” but they love to shop. If you have lots of products (audio, video, books, etc.), then try to create tiered package offerings.
6. Hand out evaluations. The most basic evaluation is to have two or three questions. What’s the best thing about the presentation? What’s the worst thing? Is there anything else you’d like to add? It is also important that you use evaluations to collect testimonials for advertising. At the end of the evaluation, simply ask for additional comments and ask people to sign the form if they give permission for you to use the comments.
7. Be sure you can take whatever payment people are offering. This must include Visa, Master Card, American Express, and PayPal. As a general rule, people like to pay the way they normally pay. If they can’t use their preferred method, they won’t buy at all. While it’s true that you’ll give up a few percentage points, you’ll also make sales that you wouldn’t have made otherwise.
8. Ask for the sale. As strange as it sounds, you need to ask people to buy your books. This is particularly true when you’re not being paid for your presentation. Before the end of your presentation, simply go through your price list/order form and make sure everyone knows how easy it is to buy.
9. Finally, make sure you orchestrate a time for people to buy. This might be at a break or near the end. If you’re not the organizer, make sure you know what the arrangements are. The worst thing that can happen is that the room is not available after a certain time and everyone has to leave. You don’t want to finish your talk and have everyone rush out. Leave time for the sale!
- Karl W. Palachuk, Great Little Book Publishing Co., Inc., SMBBooks.com
NOTE: Check out Karl’s Network Migration Workbook, a high-dollar book that is selling like crazy: www.networkmigrationworkbook.com
