A discussion about sales, sales tips and advice, and about those who land the deal

I first slept on Hilton's "Suite Dreams Serta Mattress" on a business trip to Dallas.  I came home and proclaimed it to be the best mattress I had ever slept on.  Ever.  It was incredible.

This past weekend, I stayed at a DoubleTree Hotel, which is owned by Hilton.  I didn't know that at the time, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the same, great feeling mattress awaiting me in the room.  Again, it was an incredible sleep experience.

I called my wife and told her about what a great mattress it was.  I wanted to know what brand it was, so I actually took off the sheets and tried to find a tag or marking on the mattress that would give me a hint.  I found nothing.

When I got home, I kept talking about the great mattress.  "There's got to be something on the Internet that would tell us what brand it is...maybe it's even for sale somewhere", I said.

Lo and behold, I found it.  In fact, this is where the story gets cool and somewhat relevant to those of us in sales: Hilton has an entire website devoted to people who want to buy the stuff in their hotel rooms.  Check out www.HiltonToHome.com. 

You can buy the mattress ($1440), which is specially made by Serta for Hilton.  You can buy their pillows.  Their bedding.  Their bathroom products.  And a lot more.

Do you get what Hilton has done here?  It's great.  They've put out a knock-it-out-of-the-park product in terms of the things that really matter when you stay at a hotel: The bedding.  In fact, they've designed it so well, at such high quality, and in such a different way than their competition, that they've created a way to sell what you try out in the hotel room. 

Ingenious!  It makes great sense, because you really are getting a chance to "test drive" the product when you stay at the Hilton.  Then, because its such a great product, you have the chance to buy it.  The one strange thing is that they don't market HiltonToHome.com anywhere at the hotel, at least not where I could find it.  

Here's the sales point I want to make ("finally!" you say): Look for ways to promote your product in the reverse of the way you would normally do so.  Hilton isn't in the mattress sales business.  However, they're selling them by making them unique compared to their competition (I mean, seriously...when was the last time you stayed at a hotel and went home raving about what a great mattress you slept on?).  That's smart business.  

Is there a similar cross-selling opportunity for you?  Think about it.  Think about it differently than you have before.

Among other things, I'm a partner in a national advertising franchise business.  We have a staff of guys that do signage applications for us.  But they were only working about 20 hours a week.  So, we created another local side business to 1) keep them busy, 2) keep them employed full-time, and 3) bring in some additional revenue.  In doing that, the "side business" is now a thriving entity that brings in an extra $140k a year.  That came from looking at things differently, and finding an opportunity to be a smarter business.

Find a way to "Hiltonize" the way you sell.