Sales slumps, quiet periods, business lulls,
call them what you will, but they can still be a serious threat
to your business, and in some cases will even bring the business
down completely. There are ways to overcome these sales slumps,
but they may mean taking some time during your busier periods
to prepare for them. We have compiled our 5 quick tips to help
you beat sales slumps and profit all year round with your business.
1) Build a mailing list. Online or offline, all business owners
should be building a list not only of their customers, but
also people who may be interested in their products or services.
it's obvious that your customers already know you, and trust
you, and that they buy what you sell, but there are other people
too who may be interested but haven't bought from you yet.
Online you can add a subscription form to your website, and
capture emails and even mailing addresses of your potential
customers who didn't buy. Offline, offer something free which
interested parties can get by giving you their mailing address.
Contacting your customers and other interested people during
your quiet periods can give you sales when your business most
needs them.
2) Have a sale. Having a big discount sale will bring in customers,
and while they are there you can offer an upsell. If you sell
a lower cost item at a discount for your sale promotion, it
will bring in people for you to offer higher ticket items.
Even small discounts can attract people to your business.
3) Cross promote with other businesses. Quite often you can
find another business with products which will complement yours,
and are a natural fit for cross promoting each other. Search
out these other businesses and trade with them for advertising
space, or referrals. If you sell yoga mats, then find yoga
training classes, offer the training school attendees a discount
on mats, and/or the trainers a small incentive for selling
the mats for you. Maybe get them to hand out coupons to their
trainees which enables you to track the sale back to them,
and give their clients the discount. You can do the same for
them, when someone buys a mat they may need training, and you
could get the incentive fees for referring to the school in
the same way.
4) Offer something new. During the slow periods, it can help
to offer something new, a new products or service. Don't always
throw out new products in the busy periods, save them to entice
people to your business during the sales slump periods. New
products and services hold a mystery, and demand attention,
so offering them when it's slow is a great way to bring back
people with the curiosity factor. It's also a good way to add
another upsell opportunity, see tip 2.
5) Use the Quiet Period Wisely. OK this may not bring in extra
money right away, but while your business is quiet you can
take the time to make plans. You also have time to investigate
new products or services to your business, and to plan new
ways to promote your business. The sales slump may be a great
time to do some re-organisation, and to reflect on the ways
to improve your service, or products.
Whatever time of year your sales slump arrives, you don't have
to sit back and accept it. Get up, and get busy, there's a
whole heap of things you can do to increase your business anytime
of the year, just take some action, and turn those slumps into
peaks.
Article
Source: http://www.articlecube.com
Douglas Titchmarsh writes The
Dewdigest Newsletter, and was a contributor to the helpful
ebook, "How
To Beat The Sales Slump Blues, And Boost Your Income"
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