6 Ways to Put the Spring in Your Sales
Spring denotes new growth, fresh starts, and spring cleaning. Why not apply these ideas to your sales so they can blossom along with spring flowers? Here are six ideas to put some spring into your sales. 1. Spring Cleaning Sales Eliminate old inventory by having a spring sale to clean out your closets and put some money in your account. Look through your items for sale to determine which haven't moved like you expected, and mark them down to move them out. 2. New Items and Services from Customer Ideas Now that you've eliminated the old stuff, you have room for new. If you're not sure what your clients want or need, ask them! Use Survey Monkey to find out what your clients can use or are purchasing from a competitor. If you don't have what they want, make it, buy it, or partner with someone who does. Then let everyone know, "based on popular demand" of course, that you have new items for sale just in time for spring. What questions should you ask in your survey? Try questions like these to draw out your customers' needs and wishes and to discover any shortcomings you might not have known about.
What items/services are on your wish list that you'd like us to stock/provide?
How do you currently use our services/products?
What do you wish our items/services accomplished that they don't now?
How would you recommend we expand our selections?
What do you wish we did better?
3. The Old "Fries with Your Burger" Upsell Waitpersons offer desserts and appetizers, office supply staff offer cables and accessories with hardware purchases, and software vendors offer the next level package. Almost every business practices a form of upsell these days, so if you don't, you may be missing out on some great opportunities. Consider trying these ideas to rejuvenate your upsells:
Re-visit your inventory to pair complementary items for upsell potential.
Retrain your staff for upsell language at the time of sale.
Re-package like items to offer more bundles and groups.
4. New Prices or Not? When is the last time you've raised your prices? If it's been a while, then this may be a great opportunity to increase revenue with little additional effort. Any increases should be supported by researching what your competitors are charging for similar products and making inquiries of your existing customer base to determine whether any pricing adjustments would significantly affect their bottom line. 5. Spread the Word with Spring Samples Samples can help get your product or service into the hands of many potential buyers. Buyers can better experience your product and reduce their perceived risk. If your product is small, consider sending samples through a mass mailing to your customer base with updated catalogs, advertising literature, or future discounts. Not all businesses can provide samples, but there is always the next best thing. Where your product is not consumable, you can provide a portion of the product, such as a carpet sample, wallpaper swatch, or floor tile. With retail clothing, pictures will have to do. With books or courses, you can provide a sample chapter or a demo video. And with services, case studies or proof of concept will suffice. 6. Offer a Customer Reward Program Put together a program to reward your most loyal clients and make them even more loyal to you. Some of the perks could include monthly gifts, priority service, an exclusive event, and/or discounts. The price can be structured as a membership fee, retainer, or package price. Increasing contact, benefits, and communication with these clients is always a good investment. Try one of these six ideas to put some spring in your sales this season. If you have any questions, or would simply like to consult a professional for more guidance, feel free to reach out for our help. ECS Financial Services is a full-service accounting firm helping businesses succeed since 1962. Our accounting and tax professionals are committed to delivering Exceptional Customer Service at every step.
About the Author - Jay W. Dahl, CPA, CLFP, oversees ECS Financial Services' tax practice, has been with ECS since 1984, and has been a shareholder since 1990. Mr. Dahl's areas of expertise include individual and corporate tax planning, research, and tax return preparation; estate and trust planning and return preparation; profit-sharing and retirement plan consulting and design; litigation support; strategic business planning; financial statement compilation; management consulting; and leasing company management for a variety of closely held businesses, individuals, trusts, and estates. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Lease & Finance Professional, maintaining memberships in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Illinois CPA Society, Equipment Leasing and Financing Association, Certified Lease & Finance Professional Foundation, and the National Equipment Finance Association.
