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Author: Keith Longmire Article source: http://www.how-to-make-money-online.info/. Used with author's permission.
35 Ideas to Spark Your Creativity:
There are 3 ways to grow any business. Just 3:
- Get more customers
- Get more from each sale
- Sell to each customer more frequently.
That's it - everything else boils down to some variation of these 3 activities.
Most owners and managers want to grow their business. Most of them concentrate exclusively on getting more new customers.
Odd really.
There is lots of marketing research that is pretty consistent in pointing out that it costs somewhere between six and twelve times as much to get a new customer as it does to sell to an existing customer.
And once you have a customer it is generally pretty straightforward to get them to buy from you more often.
What's that?
Your business is different. You sell a one-off product. There's no way to get customers to buy more often.
Maybe so.
But I don't think so.
Here are 35 ideas for you to stick in your brainstorming pot, stir for a while, and then see what comes out at the other end.
Customer focus
1. Actively market to your existing customers
2. Listen to your customers - deliver what they want
3. Keep Customers Informed
4. Start A newsletter
5. Superior Customer Service
6. Target Profitable Customers
7. Over deliver On your Promise
8. Priority hot line for most profitable
9. Active Customer Relationship Management
Business Model
10. Target a Specific Niche
11. Look for niches within niches
12. Use Service Contracts
13. Back-End Selling
14. Pre-Sell After First Sale
15. Joint venture marketing
Reward Customers
16. Establish A Frequent Buyers Club And Card
17. Find Out Everything You Can About Customer
18. Competitions
19. Previews
20. New Offers Every Week, Month
21. Personal letters
22. Reminder Schedule
23. Outgoing Calls
24. Private Unveilings
25. Master the Art Of Saying Thank You
26. Sell the Experience As Much As The Product
Promotions
27. Statement Stuffers
28. Bag stuffers
29. Discount vouchers
30. Bring A Friend Free
31. Surprise Offers
32. Appeal to the emotions
33. Make Your Customers Feel Guilty
34. Direct Mail
35. Target advertisements for existing customers
Now I hope you have found something in this list to get your creative juices flowing. But I regularly come across businesses that claim to have one shot products. Most recently I had a high class kitchen design and build company telling me that none of these things applied to them.
They build solid wood kitchen units, equipped them with the best possible kitchen equipment and expected the kitchen to last 20 years or more.
Now I don't know what the figures are like in the rest of the World but in the UK people move home, on average, every 4.7 years. Keep in touch. They just might buy from you again.
And what do you know about your customer. Top of the list is that they want to improve their homes and they will pay good money to get top service. They probably are willing to spend money to improve the rest of their home.
Could you do some joint venture marketing with another, non-competing, home improvement company?
Look around. You will find plenty of other companies that would love to be able to market directly to your customers.
Sure, you are not marketing your own service - but does that matter? If you work a deal with another home improvement company they are certain to pay a commission for each of your customers that buy from them.
Still not convinced?
Contact us - we like a challenge. Keith Longmire is the owner of JKL Business Growth Solutions. JKL
specialises in bringing main stream business improvement and marketing solutions into the reach of smaller businesses.
The Business Growth Solutions web site is designed as a source of information for all matters to do with Small Business Development
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