Posts Tagged ‘revenue’
Don’t Let a Slow Economy Slow Down Your Business
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
With a falling real estate market, increasing unemployment rates and looming layoffs, it’s no wonder why Americans have slowed their spending. Of course, all that cutting back has a direct effect on businesses in all industries, and most likely yours too. But don’t just accept slow sales as “part of today’s economy”. Put up a fight to gain back your share of the money that is being spent by consumers!
How to keep sales rising even in a down market
Offer better-than-the-competition prices - If money’s tight with your target market, then help them out a bit by stretching their dollar further. Mark down prices, offer coupons and specials - whatever it takes to entice visitors to come to your website or store.
Amp up your marketing - Up until the market slowdown, you may have been coasting along just fine on your existing marketing program, but now that needs to change. If less people are purchasing, then it’s time to appeal to a greater number of people. More marketing doesn’t necessarily have to mean more money; there are plenty of free or no-cost options available to any online or brick-and-mortar business. The point is, do more marketing and advertising than you are doing now and, if money is tight, be creative and come up with your own ideas to draw in customers.
Bond with your customers - Now that business has slowed, take the time to get to know your customers and build your relationships with them. Start a blog, open a MySpace or FaceBook account, or start a newsletter. Bonding with your customers can turn a one-time sale into a regular (and loyal) customer. The hard work you do now can pay off big time later.
Ways to cut costs during an economic downturn
Evaluate your advertising programs - Good advertising can be great, but bad advertising can be a serious waste of much-needed cash. Take a look at your current advertising line-up and ditch the under performers. If you are advertising with pay-per-click programs, like Google’s Adwords, then look at the stats and remove keywords that aren’t coverting. That alone could save you hundreds of dollars a month!
Negotiate prices, costs, and payment terms - Take the time to contact your vendors and suppliers and ask for price discounts and extended payment terms. But, don’t stop there. Give your warehouse and shipping company a call too - and see if you can get a reduction in rates.
Go after past-due accounts - You may have quietly waited for invoices to be paid in the past, but now is the time to take action and get your customers caught up in their past-due accounts. This may mean a phone call, letter, email, or perhaps you should turn the accounts over to a professional collection agency. If overdue payments are a regular occurrence, you may want to think about tightening up your credit line policy.
Just because the rest of the nation is in an economic slump, doesn’t mean you have to join them. It may take some extra work, but you’ll find that there are ways to continue to bring in customers. And once the economy gets back on track, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see a surge in sales!
Tags: advice, Carrie Hinkel, cut costs, economic downturn, Generating More Sales, recession, revenue, Sales, slow economy, tips
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When To Raise Your Prices
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
One of the biggest questions business owners face is on the subject of price. The problem is when to raise whatever prices you’re currently charging for your products. After all, your prices are probably one of the things that attracted a customer to you in the first place, along with service and product. They’ve made you successful, but now you’re thinking it might be time to up your fees or prices. But how do you do this without upsetting your customers?
If you’re unsure as to whether or not you should raise your prices, there are some questions that you can ask yourself to help you decide.
Know Your Customers
Do you know what your main customer base is? Knowing what criteria your customer base falls into can help determine whether you can raise your prices or not. If your product price is a minimal percentage of what their income level is, you can afford to raise your prices. This is where market research comes in.
Filling a Need
Does your product or service offer something that’s hard to get anywhere else? Do you fill the needs of the people that buy from you? If so, this is another key factor that works in your favor when it comes to raising your prices. If you make a customer’s life better with your goods, they’re not going to stop buying from you for the sake of a few extra dollars.
High Conversion, Low Refunds
If you’re sales are excellent, and you get a sale almost every time someone views your product, you know that you already have a successful product on your hands. If this is combined with low refunds or returns, you also know that this is a reputable brand or product that you have, and that’s a powerful combination. Offering service and reliability will always see people willing to pay more.
Repeat Purchases and Referrals
One of the best ways to know whether it’s time to up your prices is from repeat purchases and referrals. After all, if someone is happy enough with your product or service to use it time and time again, as well as recommend you to others, you know you have something that’s worth a lot more. The best form of advertising is word of mouth; so don’t be afraid to take advantage of your popularity.
Of course, there will always be times when you’ll have disgruntled customers complaining about you raising your prices, no matter how legitimate the reason. If you want to avoid this, there are ways to up your prices and keep your customers happy. Don’t raise them too much - a big jump will certainly upset even the most ardent of your clients, so raise a little at a time, perhaps reviewing it in 6 months time.
Another way to raise prices and keep customers happy is to inform them well ahead of the increase, and offer them your promise that this will be frozen for a set amount of time. Make sure they know the value of your product as well, and that even at the new price they’re still getting great value. As long as you’re fair and open, you should find that raising your prices will be easier than you think.
Tags: danny brown, Generating More Sales, pricing products, product pricing, raising prices, revenue, Sales
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