Hey, it’s Bob Negen and this is another episode of Real Retail TV. Today I’m going to share with you this secret that I learned to sell over three million dollars worth of Yo Yo and Yo accessories. Yes Yo yos. So back in the late 80s, I was the moderator for the retailer idea exchange at the time trade association, the trade association was our retail trade group.

And this idea exchanges where we would talk about what’s working and what was hot. And what was not. You know, it was an idea exchange. And so we’re going through this session.

And my friend Alan McGough the owner of high performance kites in Honolulu Hawaii raised his hand and I called on him. Alan, what he had to say. And so Alan stands up and he throws down a Yo Yo and he throws it down hard. So it’s sleeping and it’s sitting there at the bottom of the string.

And he says, I sold $30,000 worth of Yo yos last year. And so my immediate reaction was everybody shut up. Let’s hear what Alan did. And Alan shared his process that he was in the process that he was creating to create Yo Yo booms.

He didn’t just go in and sell Yo yos. He created booms where all the kids were unbelievably excited. You know there was this rabid group of Yo Yo players in any of the towns where Allen would create a boom. And so we took that back to here to grand haven with the intention of starting our own Yo Yo boom.

So here is essentially what we did. We had a full time Yo Yo professional and he would go into the schools and do a program. And so the program was a combination of music really cool Yo Yo tricks. My father, who was a retired preacher created a motivational message dream dare do that was woven through the entire program.

And we gave every kid a $1 coupon gift certificate to bring into the store to help them buy a Yo Yo. This worked like a charm. The kids came in in droves. I mean, it worked exactly like Allen said.

But then when they came in. We needed to do everything right for the process to work. And so the first thing we needed to do was we needed to sell them the correct bundle the bundle that would help them be successful. We sold them the right Yo Yo.

The easiest Yo Yo to learn with. We cut the string so that it was the right length. So if a young child, a small child through the Yo Yo down, it didn’t hit the ground and break we sold them extra string so that when a string broke they could keep playing replace a string. Keep playing.

We sold them a trick book. So that they can remain challenged and keep their heads in that game. So the correct bundle the beginners bundle the brain bundle at 1999 was part of the process. But then we also got them into our pro spinners club and the pro spinners club happened twice a week and ended up going up to five days a week.

But kids would come into the store and they would show other kids who had demonstrated proficiency that they knew certain tricks. So what were they doing. They were moving up levels. And as they moved up levels they won prizes.

So we had this whole infrastructure built around success. So what’s the secret that I promised to share with you. The secret is we weren’t selling Yo yos. We were creating Yo Yo players and we created Yo Yo players by helping them become successful by making it fun by allowing them to have a lot of pride.

Now here’s the other thing about creating a Yo Yo player. They don’t just have one. Yo Yo. They soon have collections of Yo yos and not the inexpensive Yo yos the expensive high performance Yo yos in the Easter 1998 in April, we sold 200 units of a $100 Yo Yo.

I know. Oh, you think about that on the dollar Yo Yo, we couldn’t keep them in stock. Why Because these kids had become so good. They wanted the best.

Yo yos. So here’s what I want to suggest that or here’s how it applies to you. So unless you’re selling the least expensive, but cheapest products in your category your customer is not buying your products. They are buying a feeling that your product.

Gibbs let me give you an example. Let’s just assume that you have a women’s clothing store you’re not selling a dress you’re selling how that dress makes them feel. So one can buy a dress from goodwill. Someone can buy an inexpensive dress from t.j. max or from Walmart.

If they’re coming into your store if you’re an independent if you’re watching this. They’re coming in to look good. They want to feel a particular way when they’re in that dress. They want to feel confident if they’re going into a job interview.

They want to feel sexy if they’re going out on a date. They want to feel comfortable if they’re hanging around on a Saturday. The point is that there are emotions involved with what you’re selling. And that’s when I.

That’s the lesson that I wanted to share with you that, yes, you sell products, but just as importantly, you are selling the emotions that those products create understand that simple truths and you will be so much more effective on the floor. Teach this to your team and they will be so much more effective on the floor. Your customers will have a better experience. Your team will have a lot more fun.

Your customers will be more loyal and you’ll make a lot more money. So your action item for to day is have this conversation with your team. Spend some time walking around your store ask your team. Get them mentally and emotionally engaged with the question, what are people really buying when they’re buying this thing from us.

If you like the idea of your team giving your customers an amazing experience every time. I would encourage you to go to retail sales academy Retail Sales Academy is the best platform training program for independent retailers who want their customers to have that kind of experience. No other training program focuses on the customer and their experience and giving that customer the kind of experience that brings them in again and again and again and again, like the Retail Sales Academy. So if you are a progressive growth minded independent retailer you owe it to yourself to check out the Retail Sales Academy.

So having said all of that. I hope that you enjoyed this episode of retail TV and we’ll see you next time. Yes 3 million and not because I didn’t cover it worth of Yo Yo it was Real Retail TV then we’ll let’s do that with a gander at no, I need to have an introduction. Hey, it’s not what.

Hey, it’s Bob Negen and this is better than.