A Simple Tip for Better Raffle Sales
There is one simple tactic you can incorporate that will help anyone – volunteers or a professional sales team — sell tickets more quickly.
Each guest who buys a raffle ticket should be given a visual identifier to alert others that he’s purchased. This avoids the common annoyance to guests: multiple people approaching to sell raffle tickets. Assume you have three teams of volunteers roaming the crowd to sell raffle tickets for a diamond bracelet.
Team #1 approaches Mr. Smith and sells him two tickets.
Within minutes, Team #2 talks to him. “I just bought some tickets,” he says. Is he fibbing? Team #2 isn’t sure if he’s telling the truth, but they wander on to approach someone else.
Team #3 catches Mr. Smith at the bar. They ask him if he wants to buy raffle tickets. “I’ve already bought two tickets,” he sputters. Team #3 is surprised at how grouchy he is. After all, this is a fun gala, right?
How many times do you think Mr. Smith will be asked to buy raffle tickets? And how much time is wasted by Team #2 and Team #3 who keep approaching guests who have already bought tickets?
Visual identifiers serve three purposes:
1. Your guest will not become annoyed from being asked multiple times if he will buy a ticket.
2. Your volunteers know who has purchased a raffle ticket and who hasn’t. They can focus on making new sales.
3. The visual identifier serves as a simple marketing tool to alert other guests about the presence of a raffle.
There are many inexpensive visual tools you can use:
• Blink-y lights in necklace, pin, or ring form
• Paper bracelets, similar to those used at large outdoor festivals or bars
• Cloth bracelets
• Metal pins
• Hawaiian leis
• Flower boutonnieres
• Plastic necklaces (For an example, see the photo of the cute cowboy necklaces used at a Western-themed event I worked earlier this month.)
• Stickers (They come in a multitude of shapes and colors to fit many themes.)
This is a low-cost, simple trick which will work wonders through greater productivity from your raffle volunteers, better sales from your raffle, and guests in a better mood.
©2014 Red Apple Auctions Co. All rights reserved.
Benefit auctioneer Sherry Truhlar publishes “Benefit Auction Ideas,” a bi-monthly e-zine for auction chairs seeking to improve the financial results of their charity auctions. Get your own copy – and a FREE gift! – at www.RedAppleAuctions.com.
