Well we made it halfway through April without the ‘showers’ dampening our entrepreneurial spirit but the real question this week is not do we make our brollies a permanent fixture but what can we do to prevent a cloud hanging over our sales performance in the future? As business becomes more and more competitive, companies are forced to put old sales tactics on the back burner in favour of new ones in order to gain competitive edge. Here are a few simple tricks of the trade that should keep your business performing the way you want it to today, tomorrow and always.

  • A Sale – Break out the big red, belisha beacon-esque sale signs ‘cos this one’s a keeper. It may seem like an obvious choice for businesses to boost sales quickly and that’s because it is and why a good ol’ sale heads up our top spot. Having stood the test of time and still favoured today as one of the most effective ways to…as the title says…boost sales and customer interest, sales also get customers in the door giving you the opportunity to create a lasting impression and build a rapport.

  • A Purchase Sweetener – How often do you see offers of “0% interest until the year after next” or “buy now and pay later” finance options? These are sweeteners and normally seen on large, expensive items because they make the purchase, or the idea of it, that little bit easier for the customer. These offers act as a mitigator of fear and can sometimes mean the difference between making a sale or not.

  • A New Product – the enticement and promise of something ‘NEW’ coming soon is an old favourite and creates an element of intrigue in the customer and also offers them the opportunity to be the first to try the something ‘NEW’. It’s like buying an ego massage; whether it’s fashion or food, we would all secretly quite like to say “I had that first”.

  • A Limited Time Promotion – these tend to create an effect on the buyer similar to that a sale and a new product launch would so are technically a double whammy. By limiting the time the offer is available you are leaving the customer with the chance that if they don’t buy now or at least soon that they will miss out – and nobody likes to miss out where saving money is concerned. Yes, you can expect a great response to a limited time offer so should make advance arrangements for suitable flooring to withstand the hoards that will be trampling through your premises.

  • A Tweet, Post or Like a.k.a Social Media – It’s young, cool, hip and relatively new not to mention that anyone who is anyone is doing it nowadays. So if you want your business to create that very same impression then I suggest you get promoting via social media channels. Not only will you reach a far wider audience than with standard marketing methods alone but in lightning quick time too.

  • A Competition – before you dismiss this for sounding too gimmicky it does have its benefits. Depending on the prize there may be some scope for media promotion but staying closer to home, running a competition lets you gather customer data. Once you have customer data you can build…guess what…a customer database which will form the base for future marketing campaigns and allow you to get creative with offers too.

  • A Targeted Offer – This is another benefit of getting customer data and, when coupled with a personalised mailing, is hard to resist. Use your knowledge of what your customers have previously purchased to make recommendations for new products they may be interested in and to promote established, favourite ones.

  • An Opinion – Ask questions and get feedback, it’s the most useful advice you could ever hope for. Your customers know what they want and it’s your job to know your customers, and give them what they want. Simple yet effective!

  • Aftercare – This should be seen as a buzzword and not a swear word amongst businesses and sales teams. Wouldn’t you want to know if something you had sold wasn’t fit for purpose or worse, broke, thus giving you the chance to regain credibility and trust and keep a customer instead of lose one? Yes, that’s what I thought.

And finally, one that sounds scary to businesses yet great to customers but that in actual fact has mutual benefits and is not as hard as it first appears.

  • A Freebie – The pen is mightier than the sword in this instance and by giving your customers good, sound advice and information you are automatically establishing yourself as a reliable source worthy of return visits. A blog is a good way to engage customers whilst telling them about your company and product and gaining credibility.

So with my closing tip I want you all to go forth and multiply sales but be back next week as I will be giving some tips on how the written word (i.e. copy) can be just as persuasive a marketing tool as a face to face meeting.

Top 10 Tips to Boost Sales and Customer Interest
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