All Posts Tagged With: "sales"

When the going gets tough, the reaction of many small business owners is to pull back on their marketing and public relations efforts. It’s a quick, easy way to save money.

It can also be a deadly decision. What happens when the economy picks up and customers start spending money again? Will your business even be on their radar screens?

Rather than pulling back, small businesses should pick up their marketing pace when things are slow. But instead of spending gobs of money trying to court news customers, why not concentrate on the one’s you already have?

Aftrer all, you’ve probably already spent considerably time and money wooing them in the first place. You’ve already overcome the toughest hurdle: you’ve gotten them to give you a try. They’ve liked what they saw and they bought.

Now, you want to keep them coming back. Again and again and again.

How do you do it? The easiest way is with great customer service. Anticipate their needs. Solve their problems. Smile a lot and tell them how much your appreciate their business.

Try a customer rewards program. Send your loyal customers a special offer, a discount, a two-for-one deal. Make them feel important as your customer.

Another possibility is a referral program. Give your customer an incentive to introduce friends or family members to your product or service. You win two ways: you thank your loyal customers in a worthwhile, tangible way, and you open your market to new potential customers who are, in a way, pre-qualified by way of endorsement.

How about former customers? Ones who bought from you in the past but, for one reason or another, stopped. Try to bring them back with a special offer designed especially for former clients.

Slow times can be scary for small business owners. But imagine how you’ll feel when things pick up and you’re left behind.

Popularity: 22% [?]

I’ve always believed that third-party endorsements are a great way to add credibility to copy. After all, I can say I’m great, but if somebody else says it, someone without a vested interest in my success, that carries much more weight.

The problem with many testimonials is that they come off sounding canned and solicited. Does anyone really talk in superlatives, with losts of exclamation points?

Over at Copyblogger, Dean Reick just wrapped up a terrific four-part series about testimonials, their importance and use. The final installment reveals subtle ways your can integrate testimonials into brochures, newsletters and sales copy.

Here are my favorites from his list: Continued

Popularity: 33% [?]