Presentation

[gingerwood]

I sell most of my pens to co-workers, and my biggest customers are a couple of doctors who happen to be Jewish and buy Jerusalem Olivewood rollerballs almost as fast as I can crank them out.

There's also a guy over in our customer service dept who's also jewish and likes pens, but tends to go for the resin ones when presented with the full collection. I've pointed out the JOW ones to him, but he's always blown them off.

Normally when a co-worker expresses interest in my pens I just bring in my pen binder, let them pick out the pen they like and then package it up for them.

Fast-forward to last december, one of my doctor clients needs an emergency gift. Do I have any JOW rollerballs left. I've got one rollerball with rather blah wood, and a cigar. So I package them both up in nice pen boxes with certification and bring them in. Doc goes for the rollerball. The cigar gets put back in my purse. Fast forward 2 days, CS rep also needs an emergency gift, and he needs it that day. All I've got is a couple pens I keep in my desk and the JOW cigar sitting forgotten in my purse. So I bring them over to his desk. He opens up the pen box where the JOW is all decked out and starts ohhing and ahhhing over it.

He's seen this pen at least twice before in my binder and it never made the least impression on him. :tongue:

It's amazing what a little presentation can make to a humble pen.

 

[Ted iin Michigan]

Right on, Mickie. I started making pen boxes at the suggestion of a store owner where I sell. He said for the price point we were at (less than $75 but still....), I needed to offer something unique. As soon as I started "including" them in the price, sales almost doubled.

Way to go.

 

[Chasper]

I've thought about showing all pens in boxes many times. I occasionally run into another pen maker at shows who shows all of his pens boxed. I went so far as to try one show with all the viewable pens in boxes. It didn't work out all that well. It is impossible to set up a pure A-B/Box-No Box test, but I'm confident that the all pens boxes approach didn't improve sales.

I tried putting a few of the best pens in boxes to make them stand out next to the unboxed pens and they sold first; duh, the good pens always sell first. So I tried putting a few of the dust collector pen in boxes and pen holders and they sold quickly.

My conclusion is that calling attention to selected pens helps them sell. It is sort of like the retail delimma; do you put your top selling items on sale to bring in buyers who will buy other items during the same visit (think turkeys at sale prices before Thanksgiving) or do you put your slow sellers on sale? There is a place for both and any way you can get an item to stand out is a good thing.

 

[alphageek]

I don't know the marketing effect name, but I agree that "special" presentation will sell something faster.

I've had a show where I had 10 BOW pendants. I had a display for one of them. I sold the one on the display 4 times before one sold from the tray with the rest. It was almost funny:
Customer: Can I have the one thats on the display.
Me: Sure, I'll put a different one on there and take that one off for you.
Customer: I can't figure out why, but i really like that one the most.

Repeat OVER and over again.

It definitely helps to display certain items individually!

 

[ed4copies]

I don't know the marketing effect name, but I agree that "special" presentation will sell something faster.

I've had a show where I had 10 BOW pendants. I had a display for one of them. I sold the one on the display 4 times before one sold from the tray with the rest. It was almost funny:
Customer: Can I have the one thats on the display.
Me: Sure, I'll put a different one on there and take that one off for you.
Customer: I can't figure out why, but i really like that one the most.

Repeat OVER and over again.

It definitely helps to display certain items individually!

Displayed vertically they will reflect the light differently, and move a little, making the light change (thus the color changes somewhat).

You can do marvelous things with this concept if you are displaying stained glass!!

 

[BlackPearl]

After 50+ years selling stuff to people, I have learned one thing, NOBODY buys the steak they ALL buy the sizzle.

In a sales training class for a new job one time we all had to sell one of the managers the same projector, some laid it out and said this is the best price, some gave all the "speeds and feeds" and gave an ok discount , I went in at list price and sold him on how much he would enjoy being the envy of everyone who saw this little projector and how sexxy it was I "got the sale.

I have not had the chance to sell much but there is no way I would display
in a pen binder, either really nice pictures or a presentation box for the $2.00 or so it would pay for them selves.

Every one of them would be sold, and treated as the precious gems that they really are.

 

[Smitty37]

Personal reasoning....

I can't speak for the general market, but if I am buying as a gift I am much more inclined to take the "boxed" item than unboxed.

Buying for myself, I'm not impressed by the package, why pay 2 or 3 bucks more for something I'm gonna throw away. Maybe before I even leave the store.

So it seems to me that there is a place for both types of presentation.

 

[glycerine]

Which pen boxes did you use? I've got to get me some of those!

 

[Jgrden]

A memorable comment from a buyer was that if he was to pay what I was asking, it should be in a presentation box.

 

[Ted iin Michigan]

Jeremy & John - Which is why I use these:

 

[Jgrden]

Jeremy & John - Which is why I use these:

Seems to have your name on the lid. Are you selling these or the plans to make them?

John, not Jeremy

 

[Ted iin Michigan]

Try here: http://www.penturners.org/forum/f22/pen-boxes-87409/index2.html