Page 193 - 101 Ways to Market Your Business

101 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS

89 Use your waiting room or reception area to
sell your services

Getting people to walk in the front door of any business
is a challenge, so once they are in you need to do as much
as possible to promote your services to them and sell them
on the fact that your company is going to meet and exceed
their expectations.

I am often amazed at how poorly businesses promote
themselves at their own premises. This is the perfect oppor-
tunity to tell a customer about some of the services your
business offers, reinforcing the fact that you are a good
company, reputable with plenty to offer.

Virtually all businesses that deal with the general public
have an area where customers gather either to pay or to
wait, such as cash registers at grocery stores. Look at the
mass of material and products crowded around the registers
waiting to be picked up by bored customers standing in
line. Most waiting rooms are drab, poorly furnished and
with little or no promotional material (let alone decent
reading material).

My dentist has excellent promotional material showing
all of the services the surgery offers. There are great photo
albums of before and after treatments from teeth whitening
to complete sets of false teeth.

If you have an area like this use it to your full advan-
tage. Put up promotional material, specials, free samples, a
corporate video playing on a television in the background
or certificates awarded to your business. If you have letters
from happy customers, frame them and put them on the
wall. Use this area to sell yourself and reinforce the message
that you are a reputable business.

Any staff in the waiting area should be trained to sell
your services to waiting customers. Take a few minutes to
have a look at your waiting room. I bet there are plenty
of ways to promote your business in this area.

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