Customers – Page 15

Improve Sales and Customer Loyalty with Subscription Model

April 2, 2011

Many people incorrectly assume that the subscription model only applies to specific types of business and miss out on the benefits it provides. The business that is closely associated with subscription model is newspapers and magazines. After all, magazine industry was the first one to introduce subscription business model. A number of other industries have since adopted this model including health clubs, DVD rental (Netflix), cell phone companies, etc.
The subscription model creates a win-win opportunity for both business owners and customers. Businesses benefit from subscription model because they get guaranteed sales. In some cases, they also get advanced payment for the services that customers will enjoy over a period in the future. Subscription model also builds a customer loyalty and reduces the marketing / customer acquisition cost for small business owners.
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Filed Under: Customers, Marketing, Operations, Sales Tagged With: Competition

How Can your Employees Help Improve Sales

March 16, 2011

It is our belief that your employees can help improve sales at your business by more than 20% if you help them help you. Most business owners don’t really think of their employees as ones who can help them improve sales; however the front line employees – the ones that interact with customers – can make a big difference in improving your business. These employees are talking to and interacting with your customers all the time. They are responsible for making your customers come back by providing great customer service. In short, they are representing your brand and your business.
So what are the specific ways in which your employees can help improve sales? In our experience of running business for 5 years we have come across multiple opportunities.

They can make your existing customers come back by providing excellence customer service.
They can also help bring new customers by word-of-mouth from existing ones.
They can help you up-sell and cross-sell at the point of order taking and payment.
They are aware of where opportunities exist for improvement in customer service and operations.

It is your responsibility as business owner to make this happen. You have to provide them with the necessary resources and incentives that will motivate them to give their best in front of customers. We have identified below several areas that you need to address.
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Filed Under: Customers, Employees, Marketing, Operations, Sales Tagged With: Customer-Complaint, Hiring

How to Ask Customers to do Marketing of your Business

March 9, 2011

Most small business owners are at a disadvantage compared to their large competitors when it comes to marketing. After all, small businesses do not have the marketing muscle and budget of the large companies. They have to find innovative ways to do marketing and advertising that is not expensive yet is equally, if not more, effective.
Many small business owners get intimated by this challenge and think that there is no way they can succeed against Goliath in marketing. We believe that is not true. In our earlier post on 5 fundamental rules of marketing we argued that good marketing strategy does not have to cost much. We also showed how you can improve your sales in a low-cost fashion through community involvement. There is another aspect of low cost marketing that is not utilized well by small business owners. That involves seeking help from your existing customers to do the marketing for you.
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Filed Under: Customers, Employees, Marketing, Sales Tagged With: Advertising, Community, Social-Media

Improve your Sales with Up Selling

March 6, 2011

“Would you like fries with that?” – We have all heard this while ordering burger at a fast food place. How many times have you answered it with – “sure”? Well, this is the power of up selling. In its simplest form, it is just a matter of asking customers if they want to add more items to their order. In a more subtle form, it could be something like placing a complementary item to the one that you intend to purchase in a grocery store and enticing you to buy it.
If you are not taking advantage of up selling and cross selling opportunity in your business you are probably losing 20-30% of potential sales. Some companies have really mastered the techniques of up selling by making customers buy additional items at a high price. For example, Ford has increased the average selling price of its cars by making customers want and pay for the extra options in their basic cars. When Apple introduced its next generation of iPad on March 3 it also showed a screen cover that will be sold for $39 for basic model and $69 for leather version. Can you imagine what their profit margin is on these items?
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Filed Under: Customers, Employees, Management, Operations, Sales Tagged With: Profit

Improve Sales by Helping Customers Make Choice

February 23, 2011

Every one of us has been to a soup isle in the grocery store at some point. Have you noticed the number of choices they have for sale? There are endless shelves stocked with soups from different companies in myriad variations. Just imagine having to make a decision on what soup to get – Campbell or Progresso, ready-to-eat or condensed, Mushroom or Minestrone, low salt minestrone or regular or high fiber and on and on. Is your head spinning yet?
Psychology professor Barry Schwartz makes good arguments in his book The Paradox of Choice: Why more is less on why you sell less when you provide customers too many choices. When customers cannot make up their minds on what to get they will simply just walk away without making any purchase.
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Filed Under: Customers, Marketing, Operations, Sales

Proven Techniques to Deal with Customer Complaints

February 21, 2011

For small business owners (and for large ones too) customer complaints is a fact of life. Every business runs into few customers who are not happy with the service or product or something else. The complaints in and of themselves are not going to hurt your business much. It is how you deal with them that determines how they will impact your future business.
We have heard many business owners say – “but I know that this customer is wrong. He/she is just trying to get free stuff or get discount by complaining and making a scene.” And they may be right; but does it really matter who is right or who is wrong? At the end of the day, it is about who has the power to hurt your future business. It is these customers who are complaining – genuine or sham.
So, is there anything you, as a small business owner, can do to alleviate this problem? Obviously, you cannot stop customers from complaining; although you can reduce the number of genuine complaints by providing excellent products and services. Based on our experience in running multiple restaurants we have come up with these guidelines to deal with customer complaints and mitigate their impact on the business.
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Filed Under: Customers, Management, Operations Tagged With: Customer-Complaint

Best Ways to deal with an Irate Customer

November 21, 2010

Post from Guest Contributor Chris Blanton, editor of Ingenious Business Guide.
Do you remember the last time you were frustrated while making a purchase? Maybe you were talking with an unintelligible company’s customer service rep on the telephone. Or maybe a retail clerk was arguing with you. Perhaps a returns department refused your refund because you had lost the receipt. Regardless why you were upset, you wanted two things: someone to solve the problem, and a sincere apology for being disrespected.
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Filed Under: Customers, Management, Operations

How to Improve Sales with Community Involvement

November 9, 2010

Many small business owners focus all their marketing effort on advertising and promotions. As we mentioned in this post on 5 Fundamental Rules of Marketing; marketing is much more than just advertising and many times costs very little to do. One of the great marketing opportunities overlooked by small business owners is getting involved with the local community.
Community involvement establishes long-lasting relationship with your customers that will keep your business on top of their mind for a long time. A typical advertising, in contrast, only has a single transaction relationship where the customer will think of your business as a result of advertising flyer or coupon for a short time.
There are several avenues you can explore to get involved with the local community.
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Filed Under: Customers, Marketing, Sales Tagged With: Advertising, Community, Coupon

Demonstrate Confidence in Negotiations to Get an Edge

November 7, 2010

Post from Guest Contributor Chris Blanton, editor of Ingenious Business Guide.
Many business owners leave money on the table by reacting to pricing pressure by haggling or discounting.
Seasoned deal makers assert in a negotiation that the first person to name a figure loses. Information has value, and the one who possesses more of it is better positioned to come out ahead in a transaction. When one party is ignorant of their opponent’s expectations, the best strategy is to get the other party to name a starting price.
When, as in retail sales, the seller publishes the price, buyers are forearmed with the seller’s expectation but the seller is not similarly equipped with the buyers’. Thus a seller who exhibits price flexibility puts herself at a disadvantage because she better arms her buyer.
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Filed Under: Customers, Management, Operations Tagged With: Negotiation, Profit