Master Your Sales On The Go

Shawna: Good morning everyone, and welcome to today's webinar! We're talking all about mastering your sales on the go. My name is Shawna Mesher, the Director of Sales and Marketing here at Evosus headquarters, with LOU.

I'm so excited to spend this morning (or afternoon for those of you on the East Coast) with you all to chat through everything you need to know: tips and tricks for selling on the go. When we say "selling on the go," we really mean selling outside of a showroom environment.

We're going to talk about a lot of things today, including home shows, fairs, tent sales, selling in the comfort of a customer's backyard, and even at their dinner table. There will be lots of different scenarios covered throughout the webinar.

If you have any questions, please just type them in the Q&A box below. We have a group of panelists who will be monitoring those throughout the webinar. If it's something they can answer quickly, they'll go ahead and do that. Otherwise, we'll open it up for answers at the very end.

To kick things off today, I want to share five tips and tricks with you for anyone selling outside of a showroom – selling on the go.

My first tip for you all is to make sure you have the tools you need to get the job done, both physical and virtual tools. If your industry requires a measuring tape, like for a hot tub, pool, or hearth installation, make sure you have one.

In my previous company, I had a toolbox with everything I needed: a measuring tape, a level (for custom sauna installations), and even a laser measuring tape (super helpful depending on the space).

Make sure you and your employees have all the necessary tools to look professional and be prepared.

Software is also a tool. If you use software, make sure you have a tablet, phone, or something to access it on, and that you know how to use it effectively.

Tip number two is for those of you who have technicians. Technicians out in the field don’t always think they are selling on the go, but they are.

In my previous company (we were in the pool and hot tub industry), we made sure our technicians' vans were always stocked with quick-sell products they sold regularly, like chlorine, shock, test strips, and filters for our most popular items.

Here's a hot tip: Stock your techs' vans with larger quantities. While space is a concern, consider the benefits for the customer. A five-pound bag of chlorine saves them time and gas by not having to go to a store. They'll likely buy the larger size for the convenience, and if they need a smaller size, they can always order online later.

Tip number three is internet. This might seem obvious, but internet access is crucial. You might not always have a strong signal, so having a backup plan is essential.

Consider getting MiFi devices (sometimes called jetpacks) from Verizon or T-Mobile for your company and adding them to your phone plan. This is a powerful tool for reliable internet access.

Another option is using a hotspot on your phone.

There's nothing more professional than walking into a customer's backyard with your iPad, a backup piece of paper (just in case), and your own internet access. This allows you to log in quickly and show the customer you're ready to go.

So internet is a huge deal. Make sure you have that and you have a backup solution. 

Tip number for is often overlooked.

There's a built-in urgency at tent sales, fairs, and home shows because the event has a limited timeframe, and people are there for deals. However, if you're not clear and enthusiastic about the deals you're offering, people might not buy.

We know that the number one buying motive in North America is fear of loss.  People are more likely to buy if they feel they might miss out on a good deal.

You need a strong selling story that explains why the customer should buy from you right now. Is it an in-stock model with a special accessory package only available at the show?

I was passionate about tying deals to manufacturer incentives. When you tell someone they're getting a deal, they might think you can offer it later.

Since you're in specialty retail, emphasize that this is a unique opportunity. Highlight that the manufacturer is sponsoring the event, and this special offer won't be available later.

Get clear on your selling story, practice it beforehand (don't practice on your first customer!), and be enthusiastic. At these off-site events, you can't afford to miss an opportunity.

These people walking into the booths and at tent sales are often people you wouldn't normally see in your showroom, which is why you're going to them. If they were someone who would walk into your showroom, you probably wouldn't be at an off-site event spending all that money on space and marketing in the first place.

So, tip number four is to get really clear on your sense of urgency.

Tip number five is a funny one. If you asked me seven years ago, I probably wouldn't say this was a tip, but in the year 2024, tip number five is cash-and-carry items.

It's really important that every single person who walks through your booth has an opportunity to purchase something. So, even if someone isn't qualified to purchase your main product (let's say you sell pools, and they live in an apartment), they can still purchase something.

Do you sell something like a Yeti coffee tumbler? That, in the $20 to $50 range, is a sweet spot for a cash-and-carry item. It's something someone can tangibly purchase and take with them. It's not so big that they have to lug it through the rest of the show. They can grab it, purchase it, and stick it in their purse or bag they got from another company.

That incremental revenue adds up tremendously over the course of the week or weekend show. You're talking about $50, you know, times potentially a hundred people walking through – that's a lot of revenue. And that's the difference between having a good show and a great show, the difference between really surpassing your last year's revenue target this year. So, that's something I strongly recommend.

And now, with LOU Retail POS for Windows, you have the ability to do that. You can quickly ring someone up. It takes an average of eight seconds to process a transaction, run their credit card, and have them on their way. So, it's not necessarily a distraction like it would have been a few years ago before we had this mobile point-of-sale station option.

So, those are my five tips for you. Again, just to recap:

Tip number one: Make sure you have all the tools you need, both physical and virtual. Tip number two: Technicians out in the field – make sure they have all the products they need on their vans, and in large quantities. Tip number three: Make sure you have a strong internet connection. Tip number four: Make sure you are really clear on your sense of urgency and the deals you're offering. Tip number five: Have some sort of cash-and-carry items between $20 and $50 that customers can take with them the day they see you.

Those are my top five tips for you guys. I know it's not necessarily about software, but I think those are really important things to nail down in addition to having the right software and internet connection. Those all kind of go into tools.

So, with all of that being said, I would love to pivot quickly, switch gears, and show you guys what it would look like in LOU to sell on the go. We're going to start with creating an estimate, and then we're going to assume that the customer obviously wants to purchase the product and promote it to a sales order. Then, we're going to show you how easy it is to take a quick card-present transaction, run the card on a card device, and email the customer the receipt.

With that, let's go! Let's show you what it looks like. We've got our tablets handy, and we're going to demo how to create an estimate here. So, Ally Goldfinch is our customer. We're going to go ahead and create an estimate for her for a Grande Spa kit. We're going to scroll down here and just search for "Grande Spa kit" – easy peasy.

And for those of you who don't know what a Spa kit is (I know it's kind of a funny term), it's an LOU term. A Spa kit is essentially a series of questions that you go through that end up being an order. So, it's all of your SKUs compiled into one order. It's going to ask us what hot tub we want. We want a Grande Alpine White with Fresh Nickel. Then, it's going to ask us about the cover. We're going to choose the Slate cover to match the gray siding – fantastic.

The CoverMate one lifter is the one that we have an accessory package promotion on right now, and then we're going to choose the Everwood HD Monterey Gray step. We're going to do the freshwater salt sanitizing system. Or, I'm sorry, let's go back to the previous question at the bottom. We're going to choose the freshwater salt system startup kit. Perfect!

What's cool about this question is that you can have a multi-select option. Let's say they wanted to have salt and ozone or salt and chlorine. You can multi-select as many of those as you wanted, and that's all in the LOU setup. So, we'll go next.

Next, we're going to bypass music. She's elected not to have any music installed on this in-stock model. Then, we do need a spa delivery line item, so we'll go ahead and add that. Then, we'll just review this order to make sure we have everything we need, and we'll save it.

Looks perfect! Perfect. And you see how the top says "Grande Spa Kit" and then it just itemizes out all of those SKUs that we added into one big spa kit – super simple there.

Um, we're going to go ahead and discount this order because we committed to her that we would keep it at $20,000 for this full package. So, on the hot tub, we're going to go to Actions and select "Discount" (or "Update" – I apologize). Then, we're going to discount the order. It defaults to a dollar amount, and we need to discount this by $895.65. Perfect! Then, we'll just go ahead and save that discount, and it will bring our total to $20,000 even for this hot tub. Looks perfect!

So, let's say Ally calls you back... hold on one second. I don't know, $20,000 – I should probably check with my husband before I go ahead and purchase this. Totally get it, Ally. She steps aside, goes and calls her husband (of course, he says yes – why wouldn't he?), and we're going to go ahead and win this estimate and promote it to a sales order so that we can get her taken care of.

We're going to promote it to a sales order. So easy! What's cool about LOU is that it just took that estimate and literally just popped all that exact same information over to a sales order, so we don't have to fill anything out additionally – it's all there, and we are ready to go.

So, with that, I think we're good to take a deposit. Ally is going to give me her credit card information, I'm assuming, and then we are going to ring it up on the card machines. We have two different card machine options, so I just want to kind of stop and show you guys really quickly.

The first machine is what we call an Aries 8. It's beautiful – a little bit larger, and you have a really clear "tap to pay" option here. It also shows all of the transaction details, itemized line by line. This is customer-facing, and they can actually put their card in themselves or tap to pay with Apple Pay, Android Pay, Google Pay – so many payment options here.

Your other option is called an S920. Obviously, as you can see from the size, the S920 is a lot smaller and more compact. The S920 also has a built-in physical printer if you're really passionate about printing paper receipts. You can do that, or you can have a printer separate, or you can email receipts. In this environment, I would say most people probably want their receipt emailed anyway. But both options are really great, and both connect to Wi-Fi. When you are at an off-site event like a tent sale or a home show, you just want to make sure that your iPad and your card device are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Okay, that's a really important, very small detail. But when you arrive at the event, you'll want to connect your tablet (it's not really an iPad, it's a Windows tablet) to the internet. Then, just make sure you connect your card device to the exact same internet network. They'll work seamlessly together.

This is a great setup for something super portable, maybe just a pop-up tent sale or a pop-up warehouse sale. This is fantastic! If it's something you're there for a little bit longer, like a 10-day fair or a long weekend home show, this might be a better scenario for you. So, it just depends on what you want and your space needs, but both are great options.

Today, I'll show you how the Aries 8 device works and how simple it is. So, with that, we're going to put a deposit down on Ally's hot tub order. She's going to put a $5,000 deposit down on her Visa credit card, so I'll show you guys what that looks like.

We'll just pop right over to Windows POS, which is our point-of-sale station. Then, we're going to go ahead and receive the payment. Super easy! Just type in Ally's information here. We're going to select "Deposit on Order" (exactly what you would think it is). The Grande Spa kit comes up – there's a balance due of $20,000. We're going to do a custom amount today of $5,000 and then hit "Check."

Perfect! And we're going to put it on a Visa card, Ally. So, that's fantastic. Thank you! Got her card – easy peasy! You can see on the screen here that it has all of her information. It has the Grande Spa Kit with all of the taxes broken out, and then the total for $5,000. So, we're going to go ahead and take this card and insert it.

Perfect, fantastic! Okay, so from there, card taken easy. I can take the tablet and I can literally just simply email a receipt over to her email. She'll receive that really quickly. We'll show you what that looks like on the screen here – just a second. Perfect! That's exactly what she'll receive: the breakdown of all the pricing, the discounts, all of that, and then the deposit taken and the balance owing. And this all communicates seamlessly together. So, in the back office, they could see right now that Ally's purchased the hot tub and the deposit's been taken. If we were using process stages, we would flag it to be scheduled for delivery within LOU. And that's it! We're done. It's so easy.

So, let's say today is Saturday. On Monday, my back office would call Ally and say, "Congratulations on your hot tub order! Let's get you scheduled for delivery." It is so easy, you guys.

And what I love about LOU is that there are multiple devices: there's a Windows POS application, and there's a web app you can just access through a URL. They all communicate seamlessly together, making it a really simple customer experience.

We talk all about five-star experiences, and people really want something – there's a term floating around called "insta-visualism," okay? And what that means is people want things right away, personalized to them. And I really believe that that's what LOU is doing – it's allowing you to create a personalized experience for each of your customers. It's really smooth.

I know we just went through a lot. You guys saw everything. I'd love to pass it over to our panelists to see if we have any questions.

Shannon: Yes, we do have a question: What happens if a customer has more than one open estimate while trying to place a deposit?

Shawna: That's a great question, Shannon. So, really simple. If you guys remember when we were taking that deposit on order, there was a drop-down menu that said "Grande Spa Kit." If there was more than one estimate, they would all just pop up there. So, if there was "Grande Spa Kit" and then a "Regency gas insert," they would both be there. You would select the one you want to take a payment on, and it's the exact same process. Really good question!

Shannon: Perfect. And then we're also curious: Does LOU offer percentage-based discounts?

Shawna: Yeah, that makes sense because some people offer a percentage off, or even when taking a deposit, right? Sometimes they're like, "We take a 20% or 50% deposit." L-retail offers both. We can put deposits in as percentages, and we can also take discounts as percentages. It's the exact same process we just went through. There's just a toggle that's "dollar" or "percentage," and you just toggle between one or the other.

Anything else?

Shannon:  Yep, the last one is: Is there a way that I can take a payment if my internet or the payment device stops working?

Shawna: Good old internet! I'll refer back to my tips of having internet and then having a backup solution. But of course, we can't control the world. I'm going to pass it to Jennifer, our EFS manager. Jennifer, would you mind jumping in on that question?

Jennifer: Sure. So, it's always a great idea to have backup internet. You could obviously take a payment from your cell phone or a hotspot. As a last resort, you can also contact your processor, which in this case is Tysus, and you can do a phone authorization and take a payment over the phone. 

Shawna: Easy! So, there's always a way to take a payment. That's essentially what Jennifer is saying. That's incredible – super easy. Thank you.

Do you have any other questions, anybody else out there?

Shannon: We did have a question: Is there a mobile reader for the cards, like to attach to your phone or plug into your phone?

Shawna: Oh, currently we don't have a mobile device that connects to your phone. The closest thing to a mobile device would be something like this [holds up the Aries 8 device], that you could just throw in your bag and connect to the internet. It does still need to be connected to the internet though, and plugged into the device. So, there are ways to do it. We don't have that standard option, you know, like at a Saturday market where they just swipe your card on that small device. It is something we're looking at, and it will be coming down the road, but not today.

The other option that we didn't even talk about today (because we really talked about card-present transactions) is card-on-file and payment-on-file generally. So, we have the option to add ACH on file. We also have the option to add credit cards and debit cards on file. So, if you have that card information (and the real best practice would be when someone's calling in to schedule a service or something you know you're going to go out and invoice on), grab that payment information right away, put it on their file, and then you can just invoice with that card on file right away. Or the customer themselves can go onto their customer portal and add that payment information at any time.

So, with all that said, there are lots of ways to collect payments. There are lots of ways to make sure you guys are invoicing and not chasing down open AR (accounts receivable). So, if you have any specific questions about that, please reach out. You can email us at sales@evosus.com  or lou@evosus.com. Someone on the other line would be happy to set up a demo for you or answer your specific questions. As far as taking payments out in the field.

Shannon, any other questions?

Shannon: Nope, that's it for now.

Shawna: Fantastic. All right, well, I just want to say thank you to everybody that joined the webinar today. This was a lot of fun. I hope you took away a couple of tips and tricks, or a couple of reminders that maybe you forgot about. Thank you for joining us today. And for all of our upcoming webinars, you can visit our page on our website or, again, email lou@evosus.com with any questions. Thank you guys so much. Have a good one!