How Promotions Impact Close Rates and Average Ticket Size in Field Sales

As the cost of living continues to eat away at consumers’ spending opportunities, discounts are still going strong. In fact, marketing spending on promotions is at the highest it's been in the last two decades. In the first quarter of 2023, sales promotions had the biggest increase of all organizational budget categories — growing 8.8% from the previous year (where it was trending negative at -4.4%).

All customers want a good deal, especially on large investments on their homes — but these deals are even more attractive to potential buyers now, given the economic landscape. Through a strategic conversation or two, your sales reps can share these deals with your clients and increase ticket sizes for your business. And using AI, Rilla can help track these conversations by recording, analyzing, and providing insights into every field sales meeting with customers.

Discover how effectively leveraging sales promotions can transform your reps’ sales results. And once they understand how promotions can boost your company’s bottom line, have them put our three tips to work to really get the job done.

The Effects of Offering Promotions in Sales Conversations

Promotions are a critical component of sales strategies, particularly in industries like home services, where purchase decisions are often significant. When reps integrate conversations about “promotions” into field sales meetings with customers, it can not only help close business more effectively but also increase average ticket sizes. 

To illustrate this point, let’s take a look at some data from a leading HVAC manufacturer.

Offering Home Services Promotions Impacts Close Rates by Over 1%

While promotions may not drastically increase the percentage of deals closed, they do foster an environment that’s conducive to closing because they solidify decisions for those already considering a purchase. Using Rilla Labs’ data breakdown of the HVAC manufacturer’s customers, it’s clear that conversations about “promotions” have at least some effect on home service close rates.

Close Rates: Home Service Conversations

• When a promotion was not mentioned: 0.459
• When a promotion was mentioned: 0.464
• % increase = 1.089%

Even though the increase is slight, the data indicates that promotions can subtly influence decision-making, nudging customers to seal the deal. And this effect is crucial in industries like home services where purchase decisions are sizable and require customer reassurance.

Offering Promotions Increases Average Ticket Sizes by More Than 92%

The impact of promotions on average ticket sizes is profound. When it’s time for your customers to “check out,” don’t think of promotions as just a tool to close a deal but a lever to pull to dramatically boost the value of each transaction. A well-timed mention of a promotion can really transform consumer spending behavior. And our HVAC manufacturer’s data from Rilla Labs backs this up:

Average Ticket Size: Home Service Conversations

• When a promotion was not mentioned: $2,413.59
• When a promotion was mentioned: $4,643.09
• % increase = 92.37%

When sales reps mentioned a “promotion” during conversations with home service customers, it nearly doubled the value of what customers spent. Nearly doubled — just by mentioning the right deal at the right time. This isn’t just good salespersonship; it’s a strategy that turns opportunities into impressive profits. 

Strategic mentions of promotions increases revenue per customer — which is vital in sectors like home services and remodeling that have relatively high customer acquisition costs (CAC).

3 Tips for Strategically Offering Promotions in Field Sales Conversations

If your reps want to successfully integrate promotions into sales conversations, it’s going to take more than simply announcing a discount. It has to be strategic but flow naturally with the conversation — and this can be a difficult tone to balance.

Following our actionable tips and best practices can help your sales reps present your promotions effectively and ensure that they resonate with customers. And, as we’ve seen, this can lead to higher sales conversions and bigger tickets.

1. Communicate Consistently

Effectively communicating promotions across your sales team isn’t just beneficial — it’s essential. The most direct way to ensure every team member is on the same page is through regular training, updates, and talks that refresh reps’ knowledge about company promotions. 

Consistent messaging means every potential customer receives the same information and options, and it enhances the likelihood of promotion uptake. A uniform approach to learning and talking about promotions with customers maximizes their impact while minimizing missed opportunities. This helps keep your sales strategy sharp and efficient.

2. Fight Objections With Offers

Promotions serve as a psychological incentive for customers who are hesitating due to price, so sales reps should be trained to introduce deals and offers as solutions to customers’ budget concerns. 

And by presenting a promotion as a limited-time offer, your sales reps can create a sense of urgency and leverage FOMO. This can make the deal seem more valuable, which encourages quicker decision-making and could be the deciding factor for customers who are still on the fence.

When your reps have conversations with customers that make higher-priced options more accessible through discounts or special financing terms, it can effectively counter price objections.

3. Adapt Promotions Based on Performance

In order to optimize your sales strategy, you need data. Sales managers should analyze how different promotions influence close rates and ticket sizes, and adapt their strategies accordingly. To do this, utilize sales data and virtual ride alongs to monitor the performance of promotions in real-time.

This type of proactive approach allows for strategy adjustments on-the-fly, which ensures that your organization’s marketing resources are allocated to the most impactful offers. It’s vital for you to keep a pulse on which deals and discounts resonate most with customers and drive sales, because then you can be more strategic with your deployment of promotional investments.

Get the Field Sales Conversation Insights You Need to Coach Your Reps

Leveraging sales promotions effectively is about more than just surviving the economic squeeze that today’s cost of living imposes — it’s about turning challenges into opportunities for both your home services customers and your business. And the best way to do this is by gaining insights into how these promotions are discussed during sales interactions. 

Equip your teams with the right strategies using Rilla. By tracking how promotions are being discussed with customers, Rilla turns every sales conversation into an opportunity for targeted coaching. And this means your promotions can remain beneficial to your bottom line. Check out our customer stories to learn how other companies have put Rilla to work for them. 

And when you’re ready to do the same, contact us to book a demo.