When Business Gets Slow and cash is low, What can you Do?

There are times when a business goes from generating extra cash to generating not enough cash.  Any business that has been around for a few years will experience the ebb and flow of our economy…especially in a recession.

There are several ways to promote your business, whether you have an offline business, online business, or home business.

One way that comes to mind usually is to run a price promotion.  It is easy to do and will often fill the immediate need for short-term capital. It’s especially easy if you have an active, loyal email customer list.  Long range, it’s likely to hurt though.  I don’t mean to imply that price promotions are all bad.  They are often good. Close-outs or special promotions will help both the supplier and the customer. 

Another way is to create a fun event where you invite your A-list of customers to attend and receive offer discounts.  You could say that the new inventory is coming in soon, and you want to give them the advantage of saving some money in this terrible economy.  I’m sure if you put your mind to it, you can come up with ideas.

A third way could be as simple as creating new methods of advertising your product or service.  An ad, a poster, or even a new display unit, are some of the methods that could be used to boost sales and generate some quick cash.

I remember a friend who had an appliance store.  When he received a stove that had a dent in it, he advertised it at a low price and told his customers that the reason why was that it had a small dent in the bottom that they wouldn’t even notice.

When he had over 300 people inquiring about the item, he quickly realized that he could sell a lot more units, if he intentionally dented the units.  He did, and sold out immediately.  He does this all of the time now and makes a small fortune.  It’s a win-win…his customers get the units at lower prices and he gets sales.

What is important when business slows down is that you are willing to do something to get things moving. 

Let me know your thoughts.

Technorati Tags: boost sales, close-outs, generating extra cash, home business, offline business, online business, price promotion, quick cash, Recession, special promotions

In my last post, I talked about seasonal tie-ins.  Here are more ideas you can use for this Spring season, later seasons in the year, or upcoming holidays, like July 4th, etc.

Now and every day, you need to be out there in front of your clients, showing them exactly why they should shop or visit you again.

Here are a few more ideas for Holiday Promotions.

Create a package of your products or services that your customers can’t refuse. Why should you do this?  Since the Economy is tanking, your customers and clients are looking for ways to save money and are also looking for deals.

It doesn’t have to be the cheapest price.  It means the most attractive offer that appeals to them. Do you have multiple products and/or services? List every product, service, report, package, or incentive you have for your clients.

Then package products that fit together.  For example many advisors have three levels of help.  A Silver, Gold, and Platinum level.  Create your own Silver, Gold or Platinum package arrangement that could go from inexpensive to a high-end price tag. 

For example if you were in the health field, say chiropractic, you can offer an adjustment, a book on stress relief, soothing music to relax your client, and whatever else you can add to the package. This could be your silver package. This could be a $100 dollar package.

For a Gold package, you could have 6 months of adjustments, candles, aromatic oils, and all of the above. This could be a $500 package.

Your Platinum package could be one year of adjustments, plus a facial and pedicure every other month, (done with someone you Joint Venture with), plus all of the above.  This package could go for $750.

Try massaging this idea to your business and create packages.  Joint venturing other businesses’ products and packaging them with your products/services can create a win-win situation for everyone.

Most of all, put a time limit on the availability of the package.  Make sure that they know that each package is only available for X days.  Anytime you can create a deadline and scarcity situation, you will immediately increase your response rate.

You might also think of giving your customers a Platinum membership and upgrade for Free.  Give them a gift for being a devoted customer.

If you are in the real estate business or insurance, think of joint ventures you can do with restaurants, accountants, and others.   The list is almost endless when you start thinking about it.  This not only keeps you in touch with your client, but it also allows you the opportunity to get them involved in thinking about the need for insurance or investment real estate.

As usual, let me know your thoughts.

Technorati Tags: holiday sales, increasing sales, promotions, seasonal promotions, seasonal sales

We have all heard the saying, “The Customer is Always Right.”  Well, I disagree with that statement. Customers are not always right. 

Great Customers are the ones who contribute to the bottom line of your company.  A great percentage of your customers occupy a great part of your time, but little to your bottom line. You must determine who they are and then get rid of them.  If you don’t, it will harm you in the long run.

How and what do you do about those customers who seem like more trouble than they are worth?

Each business has customers who know what they want, value your input, and pay their bills on time. The real question is, “Can all customers be educated to become a productive part of your company.

The first thing you should do is to identify your most difficult customers. You know who they are.  They constantly complain, are slow to pay, and always want more than you both initially agreed to.

Many businesses carry unprofitable customers without knowing that they are carrying them. Here’s a suggestion…
Every year or so, complete a customer evaluation to decide which ones you should convince to cease doing business with you, so that you can continue to grow. There are companies who can help you with this, where they will profile your customers and help you determine those you should cease doing business with you.

Once you have determined who those customers are, you could try to convert them into profitable ones by using the following:

1. Change your relationship with them from a position of weakness to one that is powerful.
2. Increase your prices.  If you lose an unprofitable one this way, it saves you the pain of doing it yourself.
3. Lastly, give your customer a choice of options to see if you can move them into a better relationship that results in a profit for you. For example:  Instead of saying, “Would you like this item, yes or no?” ask: “Would you like option one, two, three or four.”

Don’t be afraid to determine which customers are not profitable and more trouble than they are worth.  Once you have done this, then cut them loose.

Technorati Tags: bad customers, increase profits, trouble customers