Take Your Marketing Communications Lessons From A Yard Sale

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If you have ever been to a yard sale or a rummage sale, then you know that they can be filled with bargains. I mean after all, people have yard sales to purge their junk and earn some extra money. However, most yard sales are not well thought out nor are they planned for long periods of time. Yard sales are typically though of at the last minute, o a week or two in advanced, at best, but yet, they seem to draw in the crowds and ear their hosts some extra cash. After taking a look at the typical yard sale and how they get the word out and conduct business on sale day, I was inspired to write this post because I think if you have a small or mid-sized business, you can probably take some marketing communications lesson from the neighborhood yard sale entrepreneurs.

Below, I have listed what I think are some important factors from yard sales that you can incorporate into your own marketing communications strategy.

Promote Locally

Begin with your local community. Often times when I consult with small businesses, they want to conquer the world. I love the enthusiasm, but be realistic. Yard sales focus on their community. The look to the neighborhood they will be selling in. From there, sometimes they branch out and place signs by highway off-ramps guiding them toward the sale. The point is, yard sale host’s focus on their local area. As a business, you should too. There’s plenty of business in your geographic area. Once you have established a presence, then you can begin to look toward moving outward into other neighborhoods and the next city, or beyond.

Let customers know you exist

Yard sales are great for getting the word out. You see the signs posted everywhere. They’re on street lamps, taped to fences, on cars, placed into the grass on yards. When the host of a yard sale wants to move their merchandise, they get the word out. Some go so far as to place classified ads in the local paper or even listing their garage sale online in places such as craigslist.com.

Let your customers know you’re in business. There are many businesses within your community who do not do any form of advertising. They also do not get very many customers. You do not need to spend thousands of dollars on advertising, but you just need to get the word out. Printed fliers, signs, door hangers, all are affordable and easy to distribute. Let your customers know you exist.

Organize the your products and/or services

Yard sales tend to lay their merchandise out on tables, shelves, or blankets. But they organize them by category. You have clothing, toys, electronics, books; etc all placed in their own little areas. It communicates organization and helps the potential customer locate the products they want, quickly. Most business has a handle on this, however, there are those few businesses, especially “mom and pop” shops who tend to run their business like they do their household.

Get organized. Let your customers know you are organized and ready to do business by making it easy for them to find your product. If you’re selling a service and work from home, your marketing collateral needs to be organized and simple to read. Your customers need to be able to find the products or services they want, easily.

Be willing to negotiate price

Price may be set by corporate, but for the most part, if you are not the business owner, you have some room to negotiate. Yard sales are good at moving product. And during a down economy, it’s a good idea to exercise a little give and take when it comes to negotiating. Sure, you don’t want to condition your customers to haggle price with you daily, but it doesn’t hurt to run the occasional sale, or daily special on items that are not moving. It’s also a good idea to place those non-moving or selling products close to the register, to entice customers on checkout.

Pleasantry goes a long way

I don’t think I have ever been to a yard sale where the host is unpleasant. They answer all of my questions and are easy to approach. Unfortunately, most businesses today have failed to recognize that customer service is king, especially in a competitive market. People like doing business with businesses that take the time to treat them as though they are important. Make your customers feel important. Take the time to listen to them and answer their questions. You will see that they will return and may even refer others to your business.

Marketing communications encompasses more than your printed piece or online presence. It takes into consideration the appearance of your place of business and the employees that come into contact with customers. While a yard sale may be a far cry for a normal business, my points are that we can use some of the basic marketing communications strategies that these simple ventures employ as their tactics to drive customers to their yards.