I’ve likely overused and abused many a line from the greatest holiday movie of all time, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” but when I think about it, there’s a line in that movie that fits nearly every occasion. “Clark, it’s the gift that keeps on giving, the whole year.” Well, here is your very own personal enrollment in the Jelly of the Month club that Cousin Eddie so eloquently pointed out the value of when Clark W. Griswold received his seemingly horrible Christmas bonus. We’ll share lessons from Black Friday that you can use…The WHOLE year round.
Black Friday. It's obviously the busiest shopping day of the year where customers are always looking for the best deals possible. In the retail world, Black Friday means increased competition from sellers and higher expectations from consumers. The winners on either side will be the sellers who offer—and the customers who secure—the best value.
But while Black Friday happens once a year, the pursuit of value is constant. This is especially true in our current economic climate, with inflated prices and an uncertain market causing businesses and consumers alike to pinch their pennies more than usual. How do you sell in an environment like this?
Black Friday reminds us that people are still willing to spend money—they just need to be convinced they’re getting a good deal. Last year, online Black Friday shopping in the U.S. alone reached a record-breaking $9.12 billion in revenue, up 2.3% from the previous year, according to Adobe Analytics.
With that in mind, let’s consider how the principles that work for brands during Black Friday could be harnessed by sales reps to succeed under similar pressure throughout the year. In this article, we’ll take a look at five lessons gleaned from Black Friday. And as you experience Black Friday yourself this year, be sure to keep an eye out for other principles you can apply to your sales moving forward.
1. Delight the customer with a positive experience
Black Friday is much more than a sales event—it’s an experience. Although it may not be an official holiday, in many ways it’s treated like one. People count down the weeks to Black Friday and plan their shopping behavior around it because it isn’t just about finding a good deal, it’s also about the positive feelings associated with the day
Many brands tap into this excitement by adding extra bonuses. Things like “doorbusters” that may be loss leaders but get people on the site or in a retail store where they’ll make additional purchases. Limited-time special deals that cycle throughout the day. Or interactive “games” with a chance to score coupons that offer even greater savings.
All of these things take advantage of the way our brains are wired to identify positive experiences, associate them with a brand, and want to experience more of them.
For sales, this concept has been developed into the methodology known as the JOLT effect. The idea is that by sprinkling “JOLTs” (memorable, pleasurable customer experiences) throughout your sales process, you can help the customer identify those positive feelings with your organization and the product or service you sell, making them not only more likely to buy, but also more likely to remain a loyal customer for years to come.
These JOLTs could be tangible experiences like offering a surprise discount or treating a lead to dinner. Or even better, delight them by showing how your product can solve a problem they’re facing in a manner they weren’t expecting—showcasing your product’s value while also creating a positive experience.
Look for the JOLTS retailers incorporate in their Black Friday sales, and think about ways you can offer similar experiences to your customers throughout the year.
2. Reach out to previous customers for repeat purchases
During Black Friday, many brands pull out all the stops to draw out previous customers for repeat purchases. They know that with every purchase a customer makes from the same brand, they become increasingly likely to make additional purchases.
According to data collected by Smile.io, after a first purchase, a customer has a 27% chance of coming back for more. After their second purchase, that chance increases to 49%, and then it climbs to 62% after a third purchase. So not only do previous customers present a great opportunity for repeat purchases, but every time you make another sale with them, they become even more likely to make additional purchases in the future.
Toward this end, consumer brands tend to:
- Dig into their email lists in anticipation of Black Friday to identify loyal customers for special promotions.
- Use segmented messaging to target different groups of customers based on their demonstrated interests and purchasing behaviors.
- Engage in upselling and cross-selling to point their customers toward products that are upgrades from or related to their previous purchases.
- Offer special discounts that are exclusive to customers who have demonstrated brand loyalty.
These are all tactics you can use with your customers to close additional sales. The specifics will vary depending on the nature of your products or services and whether you sell B2C or B2B, but there are applications to be found regardless.
Let’s say you sell a SaaS solution. Do you offer different tiers of service they can upgrade to? Additional features they can add on? Tangential services that may interest them? Even if they weren’t interested in these things when they first signed up, they may become more interested after having used your service for a few months and seen the value it provides. Reach back out to them with an exclusive discount, and it just might be enough to secure another sale.
3. Understand the motivating potential of delayed payments
With tighter budgets, it’s little wonder that so many people are turning to finance options for their big-ticket items. According to a report by PYMNTS, last year saw an all-time high of 10.2% of shoppers who turned to buy-now, pay later (BNPL) plans for online purchases during Black Friday. And Research and Markets projected an additional increase of 16.7% in BNPL payments this year.
Combine the deals available on Black Friday with the convenience of being able to spread out payments, especially when there’s no interest involved, and it turns a compelling offer into an irresistible offer. This is equally true in sales year-round. But the savviest salespeople can take it a step further by understanding the specific reasons why various payment structures may or may not be a compelling option—for the customer and for the organization.
For example, sales reps can explain to potential customers that an interest-free payment plan allows them to keep their money longer, which lets them earn more interest on it (or invest it elsewhere in the business), which can constitute a significant value boost. And if your reps establish enough rapport with customers and prospects to get an idea of their WACC, they can further demonstrate how delayed payments generate additional value to the buyer’s organization.
And internally, it’s well worth keeping your sales reps aligned with the finance department. For example, reps should know whether it would be more valuable to the business at any given time to receive immediate cash or to build up accounts receivable. This knowledge can empower them to not only make sales, but to do so in the way that will best contribute to meeting organizational needs.
For an in-depth look at maintaining alignment between the sales and finance departments, check out our free ebook, The Sales-Finance Alignment Playbook.
4. Present a unified front across all channels
On Black Friday, many brands and retailers work hard to ensure that their channels and campaigns have a unified message. From their email sends to their social media posts to their paid ads to their landing pages, it all directs customers toward their Black Friday deals. Brands that engage in omnichannel marketing present a consistent customer experience no matter what their touchpoint may be.
If you’ve worked in sales for an organization that takes part in Black Friday deals, you’ve no doubt been involved with this as well. Sales and marketing leadership work together to make sure that sales reps are taking advantage of the day and pointing customers toward the deals that are only available for a limited time.
While this may be an intuitive way to approach Black Friday or other organization-wide marketing campaigns, it can sometimes fall by the wayside during the time between these major pushes. So it’s worth considering what you do differently at Black Friday that you could keep up throughout the year.
It’ll take some extra work, but maintaining the same level of organizational alignment you have during Black Friday throughout the rest of the year will help ensure that customers have the same positive experience with your organization anywhere they encounter it. Toward this end, you’ll need to touch base frequently with marketing leaders and other department heads to align your messaging, and provide your sales reps with documentation that gives them an idea of the marketing roadmap so they know what to expect.
5. Move customers seamlessly through the pipeline
Many brands invest a lot of time and resources into research and prep work for their Black Friday campaigns in order to create a strategy that quickly and seamlessly moves customers from one step to the next throughout their marketing funnel.
This means analyzing a lot of data. They’ll be examining previous campaigns to see what worked and what didn’t. Looking at current product sales to see what’s popular and what could use extra help. Observing what other brands are doing that they’ll need to compete against. And considering how all of their channels can work together toward shared Black Friday objectives.
If done well, they’ll ensure that at every touchpoint, customers are motivated to continue moving through the funnel, from awareness of Black Friday promotions, to making their purchase, to sharing about the great deals they found with their friends.
The sales pipeline is different from the marketing funnel, but similar principles apply. You’ll need to look to sales data analysis to learn what works, what doesn’t, and how you can best approach every step of the pipeline to seamlessly move customers onto the next. Invest in content for sales reps or customer relationship managers to serve to prospects that are ready to move forward, and you’ll also be able to speed up the buying cycle to get the most value out of your sales force.
Done well, you’ll end up with a sales strategy that helps you understand your customers needs and preferences, so you can provide the right motivation for them at each stage—qualifying leads, working through negotiations, closing sales, and managing their accounts moving forward.
Gain access to sale-data insights with Performio
To make the most of these principles and uplevel your sales strategies, you’ll need to invest in sales data analytics. Performio’s ICM gives you a start-to-finish look at your sales data, producing valuable insights at every step along the way. You’ll be able to see which leads have the best conversion rates, which sales reps are securing the most customers, which methods are the most effective, and how all of it comes together to drive revenue.
Our software tracks everything for you, providing sales managers with all the data they need to keep their teams on course toward meeting their goals, and giving sales reps a real-time window into how they’re doing and what they can expect to earn.
Ready to see what Performio can do for your organization? Request a demo today!