Incentives to Motivate Fence Sitters
Sometimes people are funny. They don't want to be the first to sign up to buy a ticket and would rather hedge their bets to see who of their friends have committed first. We've solved that problem by offering incentives to our classmates and, believe me, they work.
1. Most successful is the "early-bird special." Assuming you have started a whole year in advance. Offer people a discount for those who sign up in the first three months.
We met our minimum number right off the bat and were breathing a whole lot easier. We promised the hotel a minimum of 125 people, and during the "early bird" phase we sold 124 tickets. Amazing how that worked. (This, of course presumes, that you have a margin of extra money to play with.)
2. Another phenomena that I didn't predict was the "free drink on me" incentive. Several classmates helped with the sign up drive by each offering to buy the next ten people who signed up a free drink at the reunion." (We're having a cash bar.) It surprised me that as many as 6 classmates offered to buy 10 drinks each to encourage 60 signups and it worked!
3. The generosity of your classmates may surprise you. We had at least two people send in $100. dollars each, even though they couldn't come. We used the money as "scholarships" for people who have been out of work for 5 months or more, lowering the price by $20.00 for each of them. It helped many people, who were feeling that the cost was high, make a decision to come.
4. Consider giving an incentive in the form of a prize for the 200th person to sign up. We offered a free night in the hotel. The idea is: no one knows who the lucky 200th person will be, so they sign up with their fingers crossed. (Note: that so far this is has proven to be the weakest of our incentives)
5. One that works better is offering something for free with a ticket, that they would have to buy at a later date. This could be a "free video" with a ticket, that would cost $15.00 after the reunion. Or it could be a "free cd" of period music that you've compiled. Or a free photo from the yearbook. Be creative. You know what will excite your classmates.
The idea is give back a little so the consumer feels he/she is getting better value for acting now.
It works for me. I was the very first one to buy my early bird ticket!
If you have any other ideas. Please feel free to share. We'd love to hear from you.
1. Most successful is the "early-bird special." Assuming you have started a whole year in advance. Offer people a discount for those who sign up in the first three months.
We met our minimum number right off the bat and were breathing a whole lot easier. We promised the hotel a minimum of 125 people, and during the "early bird" phase we sold 124 tickets. Amazing how that worked. (This, of course presumes, that you have a margin of extra money to play with.)
2. Another phenomena that I didn't predict was the "free drink on me" incentive. Several classmates helped with the sign up drive by each offering to buy the next ten people who signed up a free drink at the reunion." (We're having a cash bar.) It surprised me that as many as 6 classmates offered to buy 10 drinks each to encourage 60 signups and it worked!
3. The generosity of your classmates may surprise you. We had at least two people send in $100. dollars each, even though they couldn't come. We used the money as "scholarships" for people who have been out of work for 5 months or more, lowering the price by $20.00 for each of them. It helped many people, who were feeling that the cost was high, make a decision to come.
4. Consider giving an incentive in the form of a prize for the 200th person to sign up. We offered a free night in the hotel. The idea is: no one knows who the lucky 200th person will be, so they sign up with their fingers crossed. (Note: that so far this is has proven to be the weakest of our incentives)
5. One that works better is offering something for free with a ticket, that they would have to buy at a later date. This could be a "free video" with a ticket, that would cost $15.00 after the reunion. Or it could be a "free cd" of period music that you've compiled. Or a free photo from the yearbook. Be creative. You know what will excite your classmates.
The idea is give back a little so the consumer feels he/she is getting better value for acting now.
It works for me. I was the very first one to buy my early bird ticket!
If you have any other ideas. Please feel free to share. We'd love to hear from you.
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