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"WOULD YOU LIKE FRIES WITH THAT, SIR?" A Tasty Marketing Lesson From the Popular Combo Meal By Tatiana Velitchkov © 2002 When you're hungry, in a hurry, and can't think straight through a 3-panel menu... what do you do? You go to a restaurant with combo-meal choices! Combo meals are today's quick fix solutions for our fast- paced generation. Instead of forcing you to make 3 different decisions (main course, drink, and dessert), restaurants now just ask you to choose a number, and PRESTO! You get a full meal, ready to be served. Why are combo meals so popular? 2 simple reasons: 1) Many people don't know exactly what they want. And 2) Many people don't like spending too much time making decisions. As business owners, we can learn an important marketing lesson from this combo meal trend: - If the typical restaurant customer knows he wants to eat, but doesn't know which foods he'd like to order... - Then we can assume that our typical client knows he needs us, but doesn't know which services/products he'll want to pay for. If we could make this decision-making process easier for them, then it could be the last push they need to saying "Yes!" to our offer. 3 Steps to Creating Your Own Combos So how do you use this combo-marketing strategy to increase your own sales? With 3 easy steps: * STEP 1: Determine the kinds of clients who often approach you for your products/services. * STEP 2: List down all the typical items each client needs. And- * STEP 3: Combine these items - maybe even give it a catchy name - and set a slightly lower price for the whole package than for when each item is purchased separately. Example: Let's say you offer publicity & promotion services for small to medium sized businesses. And in the past year, most of your clients fell into 3 categories: a) small business owners who want to publicize their new services b) new authors who want to promote their books c) and medium-sized companies who plan to participate in trade shows. You can then come up with 3 combo packages to suit the needs of similar clients in the future: * COMBO A: The "Promote Your New Business" Package! - 100 business cards - 1,000 sheets of stationery with letterhead - 1,000 envelopes with logo - 1,000 brochures - 12 press releases (for every month of the year) - 25 sales kits * COMBO B: The "Promote Your Book" Package! - 3,000 bookmarks - 12 press releases (for every month of the year) - 50 posters (for bookstore outlets) - 100 media kits, each one including = 3 sample chapters, plus a blurb = 1 book cover photo = 2 pages of book reviews = 1 page author bio = 1 author photo * COMBO C: The "Trade Show Deluxe" Package! - 500 business cards - 1,000 brochures - 1,000 flyers - 5 posters for the booth - 1,000 promotional giveaways - 50 media kits for visitors from the press, each one including: = a product sample = 2 page product history = 2 pages of testimonials = 1 press release But MY Business is Different! Maybe some of you are now thinking: "This is a great idea, but I offer ONLY ONE service, and all my clients are THE SAME! How can I possibly package anything into combos?" The good news is that IT IS POSSIBLE. In fact, this is exactly what I do in my website: www.Guaranteed-Hits.com. Guranteed-Hits.Com offers "only one service" (guaranteed traffic to websites), and serves "only one kind of client" (website owners). But still the site offers 15 DIFFERENT PACKAGES, because I've learned to understand that my different clients have different needs. Some clients use their sites to offer new products, or to hold a sale. They need to grab a LOT of traffic, so they can generate the most profits. On the other hand, some clients offer specialized services, or need to package and ship their products manually. A flood of orders will only overwhelm them, so I give them the option to benefit from smaller, steadier streams of traffic. This way, each kind of client gets specific, helpful packages to choose from... and this helps me attract more clients. Fast Choices, Faster Profits Offering your services in manageable combos creates a win-win situation for both you and your customers. Combos allow your CLIENTS to: - quickly identify the services they really need - appreciate the convenience of having everything planned for them, leaving nothing to chance, and - enjoy the benefit of lower bulk prices. On the other hand, combos help YOU to: - more easily convince would-be clients to use your products/services - sell more items in each single transaction, and - spare you the hassle of constantly computing for how much you need to charge. With pre-packaged services, you don't give your prospect the chance to say "No." Instead, he'll have to choose between Combo A, Combo B, or Combo C. ...And maybe he'll want some fries to go with it, too. :-) © Tatiana Velitchkov About the Author: Tatiana is the publisher of: http://www.TheFortunesEzine.com , the FortunesEzineWeekly at http://www.TakeYourFortune.com, and owner of the traffic-solution slam advertising sites http://www.Guaranteed-Hits.com and http://www.Guaranteed-Hits.net |