Think Big, just don’t over-think!

By: Chris Lynch

CEO Lynch Sales Company

As Daniel Hudson Burnham, American architect and urban planner famously said when helping build Chicago’s mighty and impressive skyline: “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work.” Mr. Burnham was a glass half-full kind of guy. He was the type of forward thinking businessman who would hire a Sales Event Specialist if he had a furniture store.

Too many retailers believe they are so unique that a professionally conducted Sales Event will not work in their store. Why is this? Probably fear of trying something new. Maybe they unknowingly have a fear of success. Perhaps they are nervous about selling too much furniture and not being able to handle the deliveries and additional workload required to satisfy the hundreds of new orders they will be processing. That’s what I call a high class problem that always takes care of itself.

Curiously enough, we often need to remind our clients that they “are in the business of selling furniture” when they rationalize why they don’t “need” a high impact Sale Event in their store. “We had a good Labor day weekend” or “business has picked up.” They are missing the point. One has nothing to do with the other. A professionally run Sale Event is not business as usual and, after being in this field for 30 years, the only downside I have ever found is that our clients do indeed “sell too much furniture.” That’s why planning is essential. After the Sale has concluded, it becomes necessary to fill the showroom floor with the new and stylish home furnishings collections that today’s consumer is looking for. Now, that’s the point. Out with the old and in with the new! Sales Events are also meant to dramatically increase cash flow, customer base and visibility. This is not something that can be realized under a merchant’s normal business model. It is intended to put retailers on the local map. It creates excitement among the store-owners staff and brings back old customers while locking in a new customer who has never set foot in your store before the Sale.

So, don’t believe that it won’t work for you. It will work just as well for you as it did for your competitor down the block when he hired a professional Sales Event Specialist. It is a completely different and short-term business model that the community will support and it most definitely will provide you with long term benefits.

Make no little plans!