Walking through the major sale

It all began innocently enough. I was dropping off paperwork to an office in a strip mall when I saw the sign which read, “Exotic Birds”. A few weeks later, the kids were in the car and we had time to kill between sporting event practice so we stopped by the exotic bird store for entertainment purposes.

I should note here that we are not totally inexperienced with birds. About 8 years ago we acquired a cockatiel for my daughter from a friend of a friend who happened to own a male and a female bird and had allowed nature to take its course. As a result, we had a brief but unhappy bird ownership experience. In other words, as a result of our first experience, we now knew that we didn’t know anything about birds.

Much to my surprise, our previous “foul” experience hadn’t cooled my daughter’s ardor. In fact, my youngest (who was too young to remember the initial bird experience) also discovered during that visit that he shared her love of winged creatures. As a result of our visit, the wheels were set in motion for a major sale; the acquisition of an exotic bird.
All the criteria for a major sale were present in our decision.

• There was more than one decision maker.

This was a family decision. Of course, the kids and my husband were sold LONG before I joined in.

• There is significant financial/emotional investment on the part of the buyer.

Not only was the financial investment significant (I should have known that “exotic” = $$$$$) but the emotional investment level was high as well. We’d fallen in love with a bird before only to have our hearts broken when she died.

• The purchase warrants significant time and research into alternatives.

I’ll admit that I looked into adopting a special needs orphan refugee as an alternative. While it appeared that decision would cost less and be less disruptive than adding an exotic bird to our family, the kids and my husband insisted upon the bird instead.

• There is the potential of a long-term relationship between you and your customer.

I had no idea coming in how much “relationship” would be involved in this transaction.

• The consequences of making a purchasing mistake are high.

SKY HIGH, as in broken hearts and years of therapy high. If we screw this bird up, not only will my children be emotionally distraught, but I’ll NEVER be able to sell him for what we paid for him initially.

I recognized our descent down the path to the major sale from the second visit to the bird store (which was really just a breeder who had rented a space in the stripmall and supported her bird habit with careful breeding and the sale of cages, toys and food) so I kept track of the process.

Since my husband had to be included in the decision, we tried to stop by the store front one evening only to discover the store was closed. (Like I said, it’s not a “real” store with “real store” hours.) However, the web site address was painted on the store windows. www.fantasticfeathers.net

Turns out, Fantastic Feathers is the name of the store. However, in a BRILLIANT marketing move, the store owners ordered their signs to read “Exotic Birds”. I know that I wouldn’t have brought my kids to “Fantastic Feathers” but I did bring them to “Exotic Birds”.

The Fantastic Feathers website is not superbly designed by any means. Images are missing and the design is crappy, but the information contained within was EXACTLY what we needed. Not only was there a list of the birds available but there were also descriptions of each type of bird. There was more than enough information there for us to decide to try to visit during the less than convenient hours of operation.

We made several visits to the store and even more visits to the web site during the next few weeks. We searched and we read and most importantly, we talked. We talked to the breeders at the store. We talked to friends and neighbors. In the end, we bought a bird from these breeders because of their extensive knowledge and experience… which they first relayed to us via their website.

It took us almost a month to put down a deposit on our hatchling. Then we waited two more months while we waited for little Beldar to be ready to come home with us. To say I was petrified wouldn’t describe the level of terror I felt. I would have felt more comfortable bringing home the special needs orphan refugee.

In the end, the store’s web site was the most influential factor on our decision to purchase the bird from this breeder. We visited other bird breeder and bird store websites in the area. None of the other store web sites showcased their “expertise” on their web site and therefore, we didn’t even try to visit the other stores. While one other competitor actually listed on the site birds for sale and their prices, there wasn’t the other essential information we felt we needed to trust them with our purchase. By the way, the breed of bird we chose was listed as costing 20% LESS on this other bird store website.

Perhaps it was the wealth of information available at Fantastic Feathers or perhaps it was our “foul” experience with another “bargain basement bird”, but in the end we paid a premium for our beloved Beldar, a Rose Breasted Cockatoo.

If you’re in the business of making a ‘major’ sale, don’t underestimate the power information plays in making the sale. Your web site is a great way to showcase your expertise by sharing information potential buyers need. Filling your site with articles, how to’s and top 10 lists really do help to convince visitors to take the next step and walk into your store. Studies have shown that a majority of customers will search for and try to visit your web site BEFORE visiting your store. It’s also been estimated that only 1 in 10 web visitors who become customers will actually use the web to complete the transaction. That means, if you have a brick and mortar store with a web site, for every online “sale” you make, there are as many as 9 “physical” sales that are the result of your web site. However, keep in mind your customers probably won’t mention this fact to you. It’s rare for the average customer to think about much less reveal that they visited your web site before making the decision to walk into your store.

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