In today’s 5 Ways to Increase Your Business Profits post, I’m going to share strategies that you can implement within your business to grow your customer base and ultimately make more sales. Every business needs to continually find new customers.
Nowadays the marketplace is so competitive, and people have so much choice that you can’t just sit back and wait for customers to show up. You must actively seek them out. Moreover, you must come up with fresh ideas to encourage your customers to come back and buy from you again.
Let’s Look at 5 Ways to Increase Your Business Profits
1. Benefits of a Loyalty Program
A great way to convince your current customers to continue to buy from you is to create a loyalty program that keeps them coming back for more. A loyalty program not only rewards and thanks them for their continued business, but it also makes them feel special and appreciated.
Many of these programs involve rewarding customers when they make regular purchases or if they spend a certain amount. The rewards can come in the form of discounts on future purchases, money-off vouchers for specific products, free products, or other special incentives.
What are your own experiences with the businesses you frequent? For example, what about your local coffee shop? Many coffee shops have opted into loyalty card programs and offer customers a card that is stamped each time they purchase a coffee. When you’ve bought 5 coffees you receive your 6th one free. This reward system encourages people to keep coming back to that establishment for their caffeine kick.
Think about the ways you could encourage and reward your customers for their loyalty. What could you reward them with for their continued business and support? Could you offer them free products or special discounted offers?
2. Build Your List by Solving Problems
List-building is a critical component of any business. Building a list of people who are interested in your niche gives you the opportunity to cultivate a relationship with them. In addition, it helps you to gain their trust which is important when it comes to the future when you may want to offer them products or services.
It’s a good idea to join Facebook groups that are relevant to your target audience and research the kind of things people are complaining about. What are the common questions that people are asking time and time again? What are the problems they’re facing? Think about a product or service you could come up with to provide a solution to these complaints and problems. Once you’ve worked out the solution sell it or give it away for free to build your list or following.
Forums within your niche are another great place where you can research and find the problems that are affecting your prospects. However, tread carefully here and don’t just dive in and start trying to sell your solution. This is a no-no and people won’t take kindly to it. People don’t appreciate being sold to, especially where they least expect it. Furthermore, you could face being banned. Essentially you want to be seen as an authority, so add value fist and focus on building trust.
3. Create Hot New Products That Your Customers Already Want
How can you improve your marketing strategies and create new products – products that your customers already want? Well, it’s a simple case of asking for feedback and analysing the common themes that occur.
What features of your product do they like the most? What do they wish you offered? What are the ways in which you can focus more on that in your marketing? What do they consider is currently missing from your product or service? Think about how you can use this valuable feedback to create a new, improved product or service.
For example, if you’re a website developer and a large portion of your customers tell you they’d like help with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), you could create an additional service. Therefore, for a monthly fee you’d help rank their website. Now, it’s possible that this area is not where your skills lie. However, you could outsource this part but white label it as your own. So, you’ll still make a substantial profit without having to do any of the work. You just must make sure your outsourcer is reliable and provides a high standard of work. You can tell your current customers that thanks to their feedback you’ve identified a demand, so you’ve created this service to help them with what they want most.
4. Create Urgency with a Limited Time Deal
It’s proven that a sense of urgency can be a powerful motivator in persuading someone to make a purchase. It’s highly lucrative to offer limited time deals, especially ones that are only going to be around for a few days. Moreover, it’s a good idea to email your subscriber list, if you have one, several times on the final day of the offer to remind them of the deadline. Now, you’ll be surprised that most of your sales will happen on the final day. People suddenly fear they’re going to miss out on the super deal you’ve offered them so make a purchase before the deal ends.
Countdown timers can be another great way to highlight limited time offers. Many people are procrastinators, so these deals can urge them to take action. The time limit generates a sense of urgency, convincing those people, who may have otherwise hesitated, to buy.
One marketing tip that can prove highly successful, is a limited time deal strategy called the 3 Day Money Maker or the 1, 2, 3 Limited Time Offer. It works particularly well if you have an email list.
Here’s a quick outline of how it works:
So, you go ahead and set up your special offer. For example, offer a big discount on your specific product or service like 50% or a big bonus to include with it. Start your email campaign and have it run over 3 days beginning on a Thursday or Friday and finishing at midnight on either Saturday or Sunday.
Day 1:
On day 1 make sure to only email your list once announcing your special offer. Remember to provide them with a link to your sales page where they can make a purchase. You then explain to them that the deal ends at midnight 3 days from then. So, you might get a few sales because of this email but usually not that many.
Day 2:
On day 2 send out an email in the morning and another later in the afternoon or evening. You’ll typically get a trickle of sales because of these emails but day 3 is when the real magic happens.
Day 3:
On day 3, the final day of your sale, email your list once in the morning, once in the mid to late afternoon, and once in the late evening. Ensure you’ve crafted subject lines that increase the sense of urgency. For example, “Final Warning – Special Deal Ends in a Couple of Hours” or “Last Chance to Grab Your 50% Off”.
On the final day, particularly in the last hour or two, you’ll see a big increase in your sales. Even more so in the last few minutes before your special offer ends. Indeed, if you leave your offer up until the morning, you’ll discover you’ve got more sales from people who think they’ve got one over on you by grabbing the deal after it was meant to close.
This method of marketing can really ramp up your profits in a very short time. Some businesses can make more money in those 3 days that they’d sometimes make in a whole year.
Take time to jot down ideas about how could you create a time sensitive deal for your own business. Remember, a sense of urgency always motivates people to take action and ensure you keep reminding them of when the deal ends.
5. New Leads Through Partnering
As I mentioned before every business on the planet is constantly looking for new customers. Think about other businesses whom you don’t directly compete with that you could partner up with and work on mutually beneficial projects.
Consider whether your products or services would appeal to their customers. How could you make your offer a win-win for both you and the other businesses?
Now, this is a fantastic way to connect with an entire new database of potential clients. In addition, it gives your partner/s an opportunity to upsell your product or services to their existing customers and receive a generous commission.
For example, if you sell a social media management service you could contact web design businesses that may not offer this type of service to their customers and suggest a joint venture. You could negotiate the amount they’d receive for marketing this service to their customers. You do all the work and provide support and allow them to market the service as their own. It’s a win-win for both sides.
I hope you found my 5 Ways to Increase Your Business Profits post useful. Applying just one of these ideas could return very positive results for you.
When you’re a business owner you have to be creative and authentic as well as being an action-taker. You could always work your way through each point and decide which one works best for you.
To Your Success!
