How to sell at home holidays

HESE are the traditional outdoor living months and this year, with the high cost of travel, your customers should be thinking seriously about spending their vacation on their own property.

It's up to you to make the athome holiday as appealing as a foreign journey. Sell the sizzle of the steak, the cool clink of the ice in the glass, the comfort of a lazy afternoon on a shaded wooden deck, the fun of yard and pool games, the pleasure of a well manicured yard with coordinated outdoor furniture, the hours of happy living on the screened porch or lani addition.

You have the materials, the merchandise, the equipment, the assistance they need to achieve the perfect setting for a relaxing summer. After all, the money they spend for gasoline and airfares is gone, but the money they spend to improve their outdoor area is an investment. Sell them the pleasure, then the economics of upgrading their outdoor living space.

RELAXATI0I{ in the shade or fun in the sun, both are olfered vicariously when you construct a deck and outdoor setting in your store. Everyone seeing the setting will want a similar one in his own yard to provide pleasure for family and friends.

Schedule a deck building demonstration or one to construct a summer porch or gazebo if your space is limited. Show the customers how to do it. Reinforce the lesson by sending home copies of deck and outdoor room plans and literature such as that available from Koppers Co. and Georgia-Pacific. Spell out

Merchandise at-home holidays ... build deck, gazebo, porch displays stage related promotions .. . sell fun in the sun.

the materials needed, the tools, the cost, and be ready to sell what they need. Have the names of a few reputable, proven builders available for those who are hesitant to tackle the job alone. Be sure that you have notified the builders that you will be recommending them.

Leave your structure uP when it is completed. It can be the stage for a vignette displaying potted plants, outdoor furniture, and barbecue equipment. You can utilize the setting further by tYing in a barbecue demonstration with samples for the customers. A Happy Cooker complete with chef gear, using all the latest equipment and accessories to produce succulent samples with tantalizing aroma, will sell more out door cooking equipment than you can imagine. If there are dress shops in your area invite them to have a fashion show of summer clothes using your store background. Advertise it to draw a crowd. In exchange, offer some of your summer living merchandise for their window displays with a sign

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