Signs Sell!
Learn how to harness the power of your silent salespeople.
By Rick Segel
As many of you are aware, I am unbelievably passionate about signage and the effects that it has on retail sales. I’m often asked if there’s a set of rules or guidelines for creating the perfect sign. What are the essential elements a sign has to have to be effective? What criteria can be used to differentiate a good sign from a bad one? In attempting to answer these questions, I’ve developed The I.S.E.E.E. Formula.
The I.S.E.E.E. Formula spells out the five functions a sign can have. To be successful, a sign must fulfill one of these functions. For the ultimate, you’ll want to have a sign that combines two, three or even all five functions.
Additionally, you need a balance of signs within your store. So many times, I hear retailers say, “But I have lots of signs in my store, and they’re not doing anything for me.” Yet when I look at their stores, all they have are sell signs. That’s only one of the five types—by forgoing the other four types, not only are these retailers selling themselves short, they’re depriving their customers of a great shopping experience.
What are the five functions and types of signs? Let’s take a look:
The I.S.E.E.E. Formula
For maximum effect, a retailer needs signs that:
I: Inform
S: Sell
E: Educate
E: Entertain
E: Emotionalize
Every one of these categories serves a specific purpose, and communicates a different type of message to the customer. Let’s look at each one individually:
I is for Inform
Signs can inform the public. They can identify sale merchandise, pinpoint new items and provide direction to the bathroom. The majority of signs should be informational: spelling out product benefits and the difference between lookalike merchandise is one way to help customers; detailing store policies, hours of operation and payment options is another.
S is for Sell
Sell signs are far and away the signs you’re most familiar with. If you have only a handful of signs in your store, I’d bet dollars to donuts that they’re sale signs.
These are the signs that act to make the sale on your behalf. They pique interest, capture the imagination and persuade the customer to buy. This can be done by using sale words such as:
New
Exciting
Must Have
Hot
Two for One
Did You See This?
You’ll Also Need
E is for Educate
The best signs can educate the customer, telling them something about the merchandise you’re offering. You can highlight benefits this way—for example, an apparel retailer could explain that the way a given fabric is woven means that any clothes made out of that fabric would never wrinkle and would be easy to care for.
Another way to use this technique is to explain how a product can be used. This is done very well at stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s, where the customers may be familiar with a circular saw on the conceptual level but have less than no idea how to use one in real life. Basic information is very effective at reducing the intimidation factor an uncertain customer faces.
Additionally, educational signs can be very effective when it details how the products you’re offering were made. One of the best examples I’ve ever seen of this was at a glass blower’s shop. To enter this shop, you literally walked through the artists’ studios, where the artisans worked behind protective glass windows.
When you reached the shops, many of the items were signed with photos of the artists who made the piece—often the same individuals you’d seen at work while making your way to the shop. Each sign carried a story—a small piece might be the work of an apprentice, and carry a small price tag. Another, more sophisticated perhaps, carried a sign revealing it was the work of the same artist, with some more experience under their belt. Other signs talked about the techniques used to make a certain item. It was all very illuminating—and allowed the customer to feel like they “knew” the artists and a little about how they created their work. This was integral in developing a relationship with the public—and driving the strong sales this glass blower enjoyed.
E is for Entertain
Retailing has changed fundamentally. Nobody needs to go shopping anymore—anything and everything in the world can be found online. Going into a store is now just as much about the experience as it is about actually purchasing an item: shoppers want to be entertained.
No longer is it enough for a retailer to have a clean, well-lit store and offer good merchandise at good prices. You have to do more. You have to offer an entertaining, engaging, fun time to your customers.
One way to offer that fun time is to make your customers laugh. Laughter is the great social lubricant: it breaks down barriers and makes people feel good. However, you can’t hire a full time comedian to stand in the store telling jokes, and clowns scare off small children—and their mothers! How can you get your customers laughing? That’s where signage comes in, offering a way to be entertaining. Consider these examples:
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you! (In a sporting goods store)
No appointment necessary—we hear you coming! (A muffler shop)
Push! Push! Push! (On the door at the obstetricians)
We really know our stuff! (A taxidermy studio)
Children left unattended with be given candy, a double shot of espresso, and a puppy. (At a small café)
As you can see, the best humorous signs are related in some way to the products and services the business offers. Change humorous signs often—half the fun is from customers coming in to see what you’re saying NOW.
E is for Emotionalize
OK, emotionalize is not a word—but it should be! When I say emotionalize, I really mean “Forge an emotional connection with the customer”—but that would change the formula to ISEEF, which just doesn’t work for me.
So, anyway, emotionalize—using signs to pull at the heartstrings and get customers to feel—hope, love, optimistic, hungry, nostalgic—whatever emotional response you need them to feel in order to buy your merchandise.
The easiest, most foolproof way to create an emotional connection with your customer is with a great picture, and the most emotionally powerful pictures are often of children and dogs. Whenever you can include one or the other in your signage, you should consider it.
Mind you, this does have to be appropriate—it’s a bit of a stretch to use small golden retrievers in your advertising if you sell plumbing fixtures, for example!
There you go: the I.S.E.E.E. formula, spelled out in detail. Use any one of these elements in your signage, and see your sales go up. When you really want to give a product a real boost—a 300-400% sales increase—combine the elements of the I.S.E.E.E. formula for a super powerhouse of a sign.
Just remember: I.S.E.E.E.: Inform - Sell - Educate - Entertain - Emotionalize.
Rick Segel is a seasoned retailer of 25 years and a marketing and retail expert for many associations. He has written for numerous publications and spoken at various events. He is the author of Retail Business Kit For Dummies as well as several other retail and business books, including his newest title Signs Sell, Harnessing the Power of your Silent Salespeople. For more information, visit www.ricksegel.com.