Wheelerpoints
“Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle.”
Sell the emotional value of the product, not just the product itself.
In every product there is a sizzle. “Find the sizzle and you find success.”
Vacuum cleaner sizzles: fewer backaches, faster cleaning, more leisure.
“One emotional urge replaces one hundred hard facts.”
Find basic sizzles – everyone is basically alike.
Individuals are unpredictable, the masses are mathematical certainties.
Create word combinations and test sentences – forecast how customers as a whole will react.
“The right sentences often get you out of the wrong spots.”
Find sizzles that fit the three most common buying motives:
Self-preservation: food, clothing shelter, etc.
Romance: love, adventure, luxury.
Money
“Don’t write—telegraph.”
Use fast moving words, don’t be fancy or technical.
First words are the most important.
Verbal shorthand - “Don’t take too long to deliver the sizzle—it will get cold!”
“Don’t throw a wet blanket of words on your sizzles.”
Don’t spend too long explaining how and why everything works.
“Talk ten seconds, and let the customer talk ten minutes.”
Use words like ‘touch’, ‘feel’, ‘try’.
Let the customer participate in the sale.
“Say it with flowers.”
Deliver the telegraph with a bouquet of flowers.
What you do while speaking to customers is as important as what you say.
Do something with the product as you speak the sizzle telegraphically.
Toothbrush salesman: “See how scientifically balanced this handle is.”
Synchronize you sizzles with showmanship.
“Sell through the eye as well as the ear.”
Let customers try and examine to their hearts content.
“Don’t ask if—ask which.”
Always give customers a choice between two products.
“Which”, not “if”, to buy
Use “which” sentences:
“Which design do you prefer?”
“Which amount will you pay now?”
Also use “how,” “where,” “when,” “what”:
“How many do you prefer?”
“Where do you plan to place it in the room?”
Ask leading questions.
“Watch your bark!”
Every time you say something, your voice “touches” a customer.
Be mindful of how you say something.
Don’t let the tone of your voice drag your sizzles down.
Say things with a musical tone. Keep the ears of customers concentrating on the message itself, not on the delivery.
Try to sound sincere, filled with action.
“Keep your last words off the floor, and right smack on the counter, so that the customer hears every single word you say.”
Lower your voice around angry customers.
Many sales begin at home, are helped along by the display window or advertisement, and clinched by the salesperson.
Let advertisements, windows, and salespeople all speak the same thing.
The Merchandise approach
Thrust the “big sizzle” into the customer first.
The Law of Ten Seconds:
The customers mind is blank and most receptive for the first ten seconds.
Say the most important thing about the item within the first ten seconds of contact with the customer.
Avoid attempting to lure the customer:
“This glass holds a full quart of drink!” vs. “May I show you this something?”
When running a demonstration stand:
Catch customers’ attention by looking at them in the eye.
Avoid using customers in the demonstration
Don’t talk too long, ask often if they want to buy.
The Seven Wheelerpoints of child retail
“Make them feel grown up”
Don’t baby them, let them try things out for themselves
“Use his name or nickname”
Kids don’t like to be called “Sonny” or “Little girl”
“Don’t get practical”
Talk fun—not practical.
“Sell the gadget”
It’s the little gadgets that sell the product to children.
“Talk his language”
Address them as their friends would, not their parents.
“Let him carry his own packages”
Let them have that sense of responsibility and independence.
“Sell the child first—mother second”
If the child wants something,