Increase Sales Without Spending a Dime
As a long time business owner, companies varying from restaurants to software companies, I have come across man of other entrepeneurs who all seem to have the same complaint. ?We can?t use any heavy marketing strategies to grow revenue because it is simply too expensive. "How can I accomplish this?" They never seem to like my answer. Why? Because it always starts with, ?why not try washing your stoop and cleaning your sign and see what happens?.
The initial response is always one of mirth immediately followed by bewilderment. The reality is, most of us look for solutions to most problems in advertisements and huge books that use words like aggregation, amalgamate and multifarious (yes it is a word). But, in reality, most business solutions look at us right in the face every day and we simply focus somewhere else. Here is a prime example. My friend who asked the above question owned a medium sized business who benefited from a great deal of commercial traffic, yet his revenue has half of what his direct competitor was across the complex.
The problem was clear, his nearest competition simply presented a better product right from the start with a nice, organized look and a whole bunch of service options once entered by a patron. So, I created a simple list for my friend to use and here it is.
1. Say "We Are a Good Place" Without Say a Word: Everyone is stressed and always in a hurry. But, even the crankiest potential customer likes (and more importantly will stop to get) a free cookie. Are cookies expensive? No, they are not. Who doesn?t like a cookie and a smile at the front door? This is cheap to do and will always bring in business.
2. Macy?s Doesn?t Have a Patent on Window Displays: Have you ever thought of putting in a scene or colorful decoration in your window? People love creativity and usually reward it with consistent patronage. We are always looking for something new or someone interesting to follow. It is simply our nature. Get creative; put something cool in the front window and watch people talk.
3. Let the Children Play: How many businesses are children friendly? And the ones that are usually do a good business if done right. So give the kids something to do. As a father of three, I?ll be the first to tell you I will be a loyal customer if you can keep my kids from screaming at each other for more than 30 seconds. Ahh, thirty seconds of peace and quiet.
4. Keep Your Store Organized and Clean: Get all of the little things that need to get done, DONE! Organize your store and keep it neat and tidy. Be anal about it as all good businesses look like good businesses. If it looks shabbily run, then it probably is and the consumer is not likely to go in.
5. Sell Something at a Loss: The auto sales industry is built on the concept of the ?loss leader?. In short, you lose money on a product (an insane deal) in hopes to upsell or sell other items that are not on sale. This has proven to be one of the simplest and most effective approaches to increase volume and subsequent revenue. Now, it does take some thought on what to sell and how to position to insure you do get other items sold, but it isn?t that complicated.
Believe it or not, these simple five steps work wonders. There are also many tools on entrepreneur magazine online that also touch on similar methods. Any new ideas, even bad ones, can spark positive action. Remember, always be creative and don?t be afraid to try new things.
B. C. Terry is a 20 year technology industry veteran specializing in organizational development and systems integration. He is the chief editor of http://mynaukri.net, one of India?s most useful resources on market trends and India jobs. Additionally, he has interests in many popular entertainment site including http://slubber.com (video aggregator) and http://mybuzzcut.com (leading Myspace codes site).
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