Page 240 - 101 Ways to Market Your Business

ANOTHER 20 MARKETING IDEAS

114 Bribe your customers with food

One of the best ways I have found to be remembered and
to generate business is to deliver food. I used to have a job
that required me to call on travel agents in large cities
around the world. I would always take some chocolates or
buy some cakes or biscuits before arriving. I have yet to
meet a business that turns you away when you come
bearing mouth-watering treats.

I would really go out of my way to buy fantastic food
that my customers would be very impressed with. Most
sales representatives make the mistake of buying cakes
around the corner from the business they are visiting. The
problem with this is that every other sales representative
buys their cakes from the same shop so the people receiving
the cakes eventually get sick of them. I used to purchase
my cakes from one bakery in each city. I would pre-order
the day ahead and get them to deliver the cakes packed as
requested to my hotel. Then I would load up the car and
go for it. This ensured that wherever I went the cakes were
different to the ones they normally received and they
noticed this small point.

If cakes were too hard I would take boxes of chocolates
or party packs of lollies. In summer I would buy a tub of
ice-cream and some fruit to make up banana splits. For one
presentation I took in a blender with tropical fruit and
cocktail glasses. I made everyone a tropical cocktail. All of
these ideas worked well and the more I got to know the
individual customers the more radical my idea could
become. I had a lot of fun and whenever I rang up to say I
was coming to town I was welcomed with open arms and
every one of my customers said that they loved it when I
visited. As a pleasant side effect, the business our company
received from each of the travel agents I visited steadily grew.

Another idea I implemented was to send our major
clients a box of mangoes for Christmas. The area where I

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