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During the Bee, we discovered that 80% of
the top sellers that made it up on stage own a Bentley
Guide. The higher the level of sales, the higher the
percentage. It is undeniable that The Bentley Guide is an essential
sales tool and we want to teach Consultants how to use it to
strengthen and increase their business.
Our goal at The Bentley Collection is to
advance the collectibility of Longaberger products through
accurate and objective education. We have been in the
industry 11 years, just introducing our 11th Edition this
summer. Every day we speak to collectors and consultants
from all over the country in a variety of different markets
about this collectible. We are the only source in the
industry that can claim complete independence from the market
.. which adds to the validity of the information we provide.
This year, we will review over 60,000 transactions to
determine what will be published in the Bentley Collection
Guide. These transactions are pulled from every state,
some over seas, from every market and from every type of
collector out there. In our 11 years of service, we have
reviewed over a quarter of a million individual transactions.
From this expertise we want to educate
Consultants with what we have learned from Collectors ... your customers:
Collectibility adds excitement into your
Home Show ...
... it builds
history
... it creates
emotion
... it adds
challenge
... it attracts
new customers
... it justifies
cost
... it builds
customer loyalty
... that all adds up to IT INCREASES SALES!
The Bentley Guide is the tool to bring
collectibility into your business!
(click on to the topic)
Our goal is to educate and excite. We
want to introduce new collectors to the touch, feel, smell of
history. The history that sets Longaberger a part not
only from other direct sales companies, but from other
collectibles. It’s the history of J.W. and of Dave
that makes the difference!
Collectibility brings excitement to the
show .. excitement is what elicits action and sales ... history
is what brings them back and validates value ... return sales
is what advances the company .. better than any hostess
incentive out there! It appeals to their senses and
builds security in your product. Security not from an item's
value, but from building trust in what you have done, what you
are doing today and what the company wants to do tomorrow.
If the Bentley Guide helps you sell 2
baskets, it pays for itself immediately. It’s like
the VISA commercials .. one Bentley Guide, $25 ... cost to have
it shipped, $5 .... gaining a new long-term, loyal collector
... priceless.
The Bentley Guide is so much more than
about the secondary market ... we are about furthering the
collectibility of Longaberger products ... we are about
educating Consultants and advancing their business ... we are
about sharing the history behind these gorgeous items so that
more people can love what you do for a living. [back to
top]
If you can build Collectors as your core
customer, it is the secret to what will maintain your business
for the long term.
• It’s the Collector that
is buying every month and usually more than just one of an
item.
They buy for friends and family because
they LOVE THIS PRODUCT. Why do they love it .. they are
gorgeous & functional, but so are a lot of baskets.
They love this product because of the history behind it
and what it stands for … what it was, what it is and the
vision for tomorrow. It’s why we all started ... we
believe in it!
• It’s the Collector that
doesn’t object about price or availability.
They just have to have it! Collectors
stay with you through thick and thin, through price increases
and product discontinuations. But often, a collector has
to be developed through education and experience. The
Bentley Guide is the tool to bring out the collector in your
customers. [back to
top]
• The Bentley Guide validates the
true value ...
... of the one-of-a-kind, American
hand-made piece of art before them. We want to help
Consultants develop outstanding levels of customer service,
build long-term sales, produce loyalty in your customers and
increase your sales, which in turn advances the collectibility
of Longaberger Baskets.
• The Bentley Guide fills in the
history.
Our 350 page book is not just values ...
while that is an important part of validating the collectible,
it really is just a fraction of what the Guide offers. We
have the only source that offers a complete history of
Longaberger products. The full color pictures are
exciting and allows the collector to “window shop”
for hours on end. For many collectors, our book is the only place that they will ever have a chance to see many of the rare items. For the Consultant, it is an essential training tool and customer service tool.
• The Bentley Guide adds excitement:
Let us illustrate how the excitement within
the Bentley Guide can empower you as a Consultant:
Thank for coming to my Home Show ... so
great to see everyone! Tonight, this is my “feature
basket” ... This is one of my favorites ... actually it
WAS Dave’s favorite too. It is called a Medium
Market basket .. this form was one of the original forms used
by J.W. Longaberger, himself, back in the early to mid
1900’s. Over the years, Longaberger has offered
this basket in 5 different sizes ... Large, Medium, Small,
Little and Miniature. This basket was even used for the
design of our Home Office in Newark, Ohio .. what an awesome
inspiration that building is .. we should take a tour together
sometime. Anyway, over the years, The Medium Market
basket has shown up in 15 different ways in 9 different
collections ... some with stationary handles, some with
swinging, some with color, some without, and even one with
stair-step weaving ... the first one to tell me which Medium
Market featured the stair-step weaving wins a prize...
Depending on which one you have, it’s value can
range from $70 clear up to $1800!! It’s a very
beautiful, functional basket .. Tonight, you can order this
basket in the sizes Large, Medium or Little, all with swinging
handles ... the Medium, which I’m holding now, retails
for $69. Let me tell you some ways it can be used...
Isn’t that fun! All of that
information is in the Bentley Guide. The pictures
introduce customers into a new realm they have never had the
chance to experience before .. the Quick Find and Dimensional
Search are customer service tools that help identify baskets,
complete collections and create add-on sales ... the values
validate your collectible . . . and the history woven
throughout the pages keeps them coming back for more!
• Other services:
Getting Consultants inventoried and insured
for proper value. Our experience has shown that less than
20% percent of Consultants are actually insured properly.
It’s an overwhelming task in which we can help by
offering specialized tools, such as our Collector’s Checklist or our Bentley on Computer software program. [back to
top]
One piece of misinformation about
collecting and the secondary market is that it’s all
about selling ... actually, collecting really has very little
to do with selling .. it’s more about buying then
selling! A collector often has that “I need it
all” mentality and if they can’t have it all, they
don’t want it at all.
We talk to many Consultants and we hear a
lot of the same concerns .. they don’t know how to bring
collectibility into their business ... or they don’t know
if they are allowed to bring collectibility in. There is
a lot of misinformation out there about what you can and cannot
do.
It’s hard for the Longaberger company
to address these issues or concerns because it is difficult and
not advised for a manufacturer to be involved in endorsing
& validating their own product. That is where the
Bentley Guide fits perfectly. Allow us to validate your
product .. allow us to answer the questions .. allow us to
address the concerns .. as an independent party, we have
nothing to gain in the market. We only have to gain by
increasing the collectibility of your product.
Customers hear the hype of the secondary
market ... we want to educate Consultants to not only be able
to address the hype but combat it with truth. Right now,
The Company is not able to address this part of collectibility
... but we can. We don’t endorse the market either,
we just educate about it. It’s our job to know
the dangers and trends and to educate. We are in it
every day! We know what the market is doing and is not
doing and we have the tools to educate.
It’s not about secondary market ..
it’s about collectibility. The secondary market is
a small portion of a collectible. It’s just an
avenue in which a collector will use to further their
collection. It’s not the place to get history, to
find fact, to value their items or get excited about. [back
to top]
Did you know ...
... over 36 million Americans
consider themselves a Collector and most own more than 5
different collections?
... a typical Collector spends
an average of $800 a year adding to their collections?
... that less than 1-2% of the
American population owns a Longaberger Basket?
... a typical Collector is
female, ages 35-64, married, well-educated, employed and more
affluent than the
general
population?
Do any of these sound like your current
Customer?
The question is .... how much do you
believe in the collectibility of your product? Do you
believe in its power to increase sales. Wouldn’t
you like to have 80% of your Consultants on the stage this year
at the Bee? It could be up to you to make available the
tool that can give you the edge ... The Bentley Collection
Guide. [back to top]
We welcome all feedback from our customers:
By phone:
614-855-8507 / 1-800-837-4394
By fax:
614-855-9847
By email:
info@bentleyguide.com
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