Tactics for Economically Challenging Times For Beneficial Business

KEEP A STRONG POSITION AND ALWAYS BE READY TO GIVE YOUR PITCH.
Why are you superior, faster, stronger? In order to command premium prices-and who doesn't want to sell at premium prices-you need to develop a solid, unique selling position. Always be prepared to state it clearly to a prospective customer. If you are unable how to explain to a prospective customer how your business different than the competition, your customer will think you sell a commodity-that equates to death in today's marketplace. You always want to fetch the highest price possible so you have the resources to grow your organization when the opportunity strikes and be able to the slow times when they come along too!
Continually identify where your business is going to and what the innovations of the market are going to be. Even if you're not the earliest market innovator, don't be afraid to run with your competition's new ideas. How many times has the number two guy figured out how to make the product more useful? Small improvements can make the difference between hanging on and market domination.

PERSISTENTLY BE BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS'S BRAND.
Bang your drum, toot your horn, let people know who and what you do- day and night. Don't ever be fearful of "bragging" about your product or business. If you won't do it, who else will? If potential clients don't know who you are or how to locate your business-they won't


ESTABLISH A STURDY SYSTEM FOR LEAD GENERATION.
There are dozens of ways to create leads for your business from the Internet, to call center generated, to print to TV and Radio. Lead generation is a daily necessity. Invest in online pay-per-click advertising, attend the tradeshows your customers attend, take online surveys of your customers and prospects, consider an outbound calling lead generation campaign that is industry specific - make generating leads a top priority.
A common business owner error is to work on generating leads and then move to servicing the new business. While this is a frequent mistake, it is an error. The most consistent, strong businesses comprehend that new business is an on-going activity that needs to be focused on day in and day out. Waiting until business is slow to try to drum up business is dangerous-as oftentimes it may well be too late!

ASK CURRENT CLIENTS TO PURCHASE MORE.
Existing clients are your most desirable opportunity for extra business. Irrespective of what you sell, there are likely to be opportunities to offer additional products. Start when your client first places an order. Always be on the watch for upsell opportunities. Offer discounted pricing when they buy a 2nd product, propose a companion or complimentary product if it makes sense. We typically recommend that a designated upsell item be chosen for each product to be sold. You can also offer seasonal products as an upsell item. Your goal should be to increase every incoming sale by some proportion.
You will find you can sell more to your existing customers by making it simple for them to buy more of what they have already bought from you in the past. Most companies find this to be an outstanding opportunity to increase revenues. We have located opportunities for clients to sell three times as much product simply by asking "would you like more" over and over again.Frequently opportunities exist for clients to sell as much as three times as much product by repeatedly asking if a customer would like more.

CALL ON EXPIRED ACCOUNTS AND OLD LEADS.
You have to frequently call on people who have indicated an interest in your products or services in order to get them to buy or start buying again. You do not want to just drop a brochure or two in the mail or only send a couple of emails; keep following up as persistantly as you can to get them to purchase. When essential, increase the attractiveness of your offer, but frequently ask for the order. Do this for both new and former customers. If you have not spoken with a customer in a year or two, do something about it. Try a different approach including telemarketing-yes, it still works- to get them to take notice and find out what is required to get them to order.

SELL VALUE.
It is hard to build a stronger brand image than by giving your customers more value than your competition. It also lifts you above the level of "commodities" products and genuinely differentiates you from the competition. When you are selling your value proposition, you raise the worth of your company to your customers, and you increase your ability to sell at premium prices.

HABITUALLY ASK YOUR CUSTOMERS FOR THEIR FEEDBACK.
This can become a chief portion of the branding process. Repeatedly talk with your customers and clients in order for them to realize how important their business is to your organization. Customers should understand how much their business is appreciated. Request honest opinions from your customers during all the touchpoints of a sale. Place a form on your web site to ask for customer feedback. Find out from customers how to improve your website.
Customers should be able to easily to contact you. An excessive number of web sites fail to provide basic contact information such as a phone number. All this does is aggravate customers and makes it seem unpleasant to do business with your organization. Review any customer service complaints frequently to deduce product or service issues before they impact your bottom-line.

ASK YOUR CLIENTS FOR ENDORSEMENTS.
These are FREE commercials. You understand how notable a free commercial is if you've paid for advertising space. Insert testimonials in your brochures, in your "on-hold" phone messages and on your web site.
As opposed to paid ads, testimonials are typically seen as unbiased recommendations of your company and its products or services. Make it effortless for clients to endorse you - ask if you can compose the testimonial for them and just have them add their signature. Do the work for your client. Make it easy for a customer to give you a testimonial.

ASK CUSTOMERS FOR REFERRALS AND REWARD THEM FOR THE BUSINESS.
Your existing customers may be the link between you and several more customers that could truly benefit from your products and services. Delighted customers are more than likely eager to recommend your company to their family and friends. If you do not ask - you won't know. Try to make it deserving of their while. Gifts are always appreciated and they do not typically have to be of great value.

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

0 comments:

Post a Comment