Hi John, happy to hear you lived in Italy in the past, Firenze is wonderful, I come from South Italy, Calabria, near Sicily, wonderful places too!
I appreciate your suggestions, but I've to tell that many, many times I try to connect with people, asking them questions, but it seems like they're on the phone just for the price, they don't care if I care of them! They want to stay on the phone for 20-30 seconds max.!
I've spent hundreds $$$ to get the best phone techniques, but unfortunately USA market mentality is very different from ours.
Very few people here are ready to openly talk of their needs/problems over the phone.
It goes like the most part of callers think "First the price, if it's ok, then we can talk (over the phone or into the store), otherwise bye, bye. I'll call another store."
It's sad, but this is how things goes here.
Hope to get more suggestions!
Ciao Paisà,
Marco.

Strange, when I was in Italy, it seemed there was no end to what a customer would tell the shop keeper. I remember waiting in line for ever just by a stamp at the local cartolina.

Anyways, it sounds like you need to get NEW LEADS.

Doesn't matter what sales/conversion method you have, if the guy doesn't have $3,000 to spend on a mattress, he simply won't.

I would totally reevaluate your sources of leads. You need to get your message in front of people who...

1) Have money.

2) Need mattresses.

I'd say the best place to start is with a direct-mail campaign to people making more than $100,000K a year.

Also doing joint venture with other non-competing stores that have high-end customers.

When you get the RIGHT people ont he phone... people who don't even ask about price until last... you'll lfind your life a lot easier.

John

__________________
John C. A. Manley
www.RealityCopywriting.com

Hi John! Thanks for your suggestions. I'm in the process to write a totally new marketing/advertising plan for the next year, where I absolutely have to reach as much as high-end prospects. The fact is that the place where I live, thus my market, has no more than 100,000/150,000 residents, and we're not in an Italy's area where the economy goes well (the percentage of work-less is around 30%!), so the affluents with a € 100,000 income aren't so much.

Plus, many of them on the phone act as "poor-man", because they consider the mattress a not so important thing "What? $3,000 for a mattress? I'll spend this money for an Hawai trip!". A lot of people, poor or rich, replace their mattress after 10-15 years, but technology in this period of time has done giant steps in this market and the costs are much higher than the old-fashioned low-priced innercoil-spring mattress. Not so many people are aware of this and, when they are, their first consideration is that a mattress is always just mattress, no matter which technology is behind it. That's why we've to argument the importance of quality sleep, that a mattress is the best and less expensive investment we can make for our health - just pennies a night - that we carry less expensive products and other similar things.

But I need time to argument this, that's why I think that sending a letter or an email (with prices, offers, terms of payment, alternative choices, etc) together with a "How to select the right mattress for your health" free report it's much better than to tell the prices over the phone.

Always ready and open to hear your suggestions!

Ciao from Italy!
Marco