1. Using other businesses to increase sales:
Joint ventures – One way to increase sales is to team up with other businesses that have the same target customer.
Example: Let’s say you own a tire store. Your target customer is pretty much men age 20 to 60 years old. You look for other businesses that have the same target customers. There is a local health spa in the area, Gold’s Gym.â€? There is also a sporting goods store several blocks away. You contact the owner or manager of Gold’s Gym and propose a joint promotion. He has about 900 men who are members that he sends bill to every month. You propose that you will print 3×6â€? flyers offering a special discount of $200 off certain brands of tires for Gold’s Gym members. The manager will put the flyers into the monthly bills mailed to the 900 members. You agree to pay the Gym $50 for every set of tires you sell from the flyers. It’s a win-win promotion. You get to sell to a list of customers you did not have access to. You will make a considerable amount of sales. The manager of Golds Gym only has to put the flyers into the bills and mail them. He gets $50 per set of tires sold for doing nothing.
You can do this tactic with many different businesses extending your customer reach for almost no cost.
2. Other businesses’ customer dead lists: Many businesses have lists of prospects they had contacted to sell their products, but the prospects didn’t buy. The business usually tries several times to sell to that prospect list selling a few more. That list of prospects that did not buy is called a dead list. The business just keeps the names in the data base but has no use for them. If you have the same target customer as the other business, you can ask the business to let you market to the dead list. You will give them $100 for each person on the dead list you sell.
Example – You are the owner of a holistic college that teaches different kinds of natural healing, spiritual development, and use of herbs to cure different ailments. Your customers are primarily females age 20-45 years old. You contact the local massage therapy college and ask to market to their dead list. You will give them $100 for each person you sign up. The Massage therapy college gets money from a list that was dead, and you get a list of the same target customer to market to. Again, a win –win for both of you.
3. Trade your services for advertising: If you have a business that provides products or services that other businesses could use, contact a local advertising company. Radio stations do a lot of promotions and give away a lot of merchandise on air. Contact a manager of a radio station. Offer to trade your services for radio spots. Your services could be carpet cleaning, furniture, electronics, etc. Trade your product/service full retail price for the retail price of radio spots. You can do this with some newspapers, TV stations and other media.
4. Create a Unique Selling Position to make your business different from the competition: You might promote your business as faster service, lower prices, wider selection, better distribution, and best guarantee and so on. The concept can be the most powerful tactic you can do and it is free. Make your business different.
5. Use free resources to create a free website, and get other useful free programs. There are places on the Internet where you can create a simple website for your business free. One of them is www.NVU.com . Other useful programs, if you don’t have MicroSoft Office, here is a free program that is almost the same: www.openoffice.com
6. Increase your and your employee’s basic selling skills: Check out some good selling books, CDs, or DVDs from the library. Spend time every week listening and learning the tactics. Sales skills like riding a bike can be learned by anyone. Learn the consultant selling technique, and some closing skills. This is free and can increase sales by 30%.
7. Multiply your ability to contact prospects: make arrangements with other service businesses that sell to your same target customer. If you are an electrician, make agreements with businesses like plumbers, lawn care, gutter replacement, etc. to share contacts. Have them leave your brochure with every customer they do work for. Give them a commission for each job you get.
8. Testimonials and endorsements are very powerful selling tools: Get as many letters or email from customers who liked your work and recommend you. When you ask friends, or customers to write a recommendation for you, they will often never get around to it. Here is the secret – type the recommendation as if it were written by your customer. Make it true. Then email it to your contact saying the email is an example of the letter you would like. Tell him to make any changes in the letter and then send it back. In almost every case they will send it back signed and with no changes. You have written your own endorsement.
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