Five Dollars in Samples Equals Twenty-five Dollars in Sales

The other evening I attended a UNHCE Vegetable Twilight Meeting hosted at Dimond Hill Farm in Concord, NH. This sixth generation family farm contains 107 acres of rich history and hard work. Jane Presby now operates the farm and is continuing the hard work instilling "as fresh as it gets" into the produce and other products sold at the retail store located in the historic barn.

I went to the meeting because I am fanatical about family farms and marketing and having heard some buzz about Jane's marketing strategies and tactics I had to go.

Let's take a look at 3 key points Jane made during the meeting:

1. Know Your Customer – Jane has definitely listened to her customers and given them what they wanted. She shared with us her customers desire for the farm stand to offer fresh eggs. Chickens were not in the business plan and Jane wasn't too keen on chickens, but knowing that it was important to her customers she purchased chickens and fresh eggs will soon be offered.

2. Educate Your Customers on your products and your service. – Many innovative family farms think outside the "grocery store" box by offering unique varieties of vegetables. Some customers may not be aware of such varieties or how to prepare or cook them. This requires education (Jane was formerly a teacher so this was a natural for her). Jane shared a story about when she first introduced acorn squash on the farm. Once the customers learned that it was simple to prepare and could be cooked in the microwave oven customers snatched up the acorn squash.

3. Sampling – Jane stated, "$5 in samples equals $25 in sales" (thanks for the title, Jane). Customers want to try it out before they buy it, kick the tires, if you would. Dimond Hill Farm offers a variety of tomatoes and peppers and other products and sampling is part of their marketing costs. Billy, who has been with the farm for 8 years, offers samples to customers and explains the differences in flavors and uses. A customer will be more likely to buy a product once they have tasted it or sampled it.

All 3 points work together to generate the sales success. Dimond Hill Farm's strategy does this well. You must understand the customer by educating yourself on who they are and what they want. In turn, educate them on everything about your products and services. Don't assume your customer knows everything about your business, your products or your service. They have a lot on their mind so the more you help them the more they will return the favor with patronage. Reduce their risk by offering free samples, how to use your products and how it benefits them. When buing a car people don't like to part with their money without test driving, it is no different with any other product or service.

Finally, include your staff in every aspect of your marketing. The one thing that stood out for me that evening was the way the staff knew Dimond Hill Farm's values – "it is about the customer." I met Don, Danielle and Amy and it was apparent they loved what they do, they understood it was about the customer and they were genuine in every way.

Here is a question for you. Do you think these 3 points need to work together or can they stand alone and still be effective?