Picture this ugly scenario: Mr. and Mrs. Buyer have read your newspaper ad, heard your radio spots, received the direct mail piece, and seen your TV commercial. They know this is a real honest-to-goodness, once in a lifetime vacation offer.

You ve motivated them to get off the couch, turn off the TV and the computer, find their checkbook, and drive down to your store. By using the vacation pro-motion you ve made it impossible for them to compare you to your com-petition, because your competition isn't giving away a vacation.

So into your store they come waving their checkbook, and when they arrive all the salespeople are watching the football game, there is only one countertop display announcing the vacation and it's upside down on top of a stack of pizza boxes. The only balloons displayed are molded into the shape of a poodle, and they ask the first salesperson they see about the vacation and he says, What vacation? That sure let the steam out of their enthusiasm- you just flushed your vacation promotion and your money down the toilet.

But it's easy to avoid.

How to Run a Successful Vacation Giveaway Promotion

1. Have a pre-promotion store meeting with all departments present.
2. Hand out buttons that everyone must wear that read, Vacation on Us, Ask Me How.
3. Display counter stands on each closing desk and on top of cars in the showroom with that same slogan.
4. Display balloons that also match the slogan.
5. Tell all salespeople to greet customers with, You must be here for our (explain vacation) giveaway.

If your store doesn't look like it's having a vacation promotion, and if you don't pump up your salespeople, all of the money you spent goes right down the drain.

Advertising the Promotion

When advertising in the newspaper make sure the promotion is in the top 1/3 of the ad- this will cause the customer to stop and read your ad when glancing through the newspaper. Try placing a full page ad. If this is not in your budget, get more bang for your advertising buck by shaping your ad like an oval. The white space around the ad will make it stand out. Always run the vacation promotion for a full month to give word of mouth advertising a chance to start working for you. Never do business with a vacation certificate company that does not offer a money back guarantee. Your radio spot should mention the vacation offer in the beginning, the middle, and the end. The TV commercial should mention the vacation in the beginning and the end.

In conclusion, excite and motivate your salespeople about your next vacation promotion. Advertise it right and you will be amazed at the results. Finally, make sure your showroom looks like something big is going on.

Al Castellanos is director of market strategies for Spirit Incentives. His articles have appeared in various trade magazines. Al is a regular speaker at trade shows. If you have any questions he can be reached at 800-860-5880 x 113.