Here are two lessons I want to share with you. 

I recently got back home after being away for three months.  In opening the mail I noticed a flyer from a jewelry store.  I don’t know if you are familiar with the Pandora line of bracelets and charms, but the line is designed to keep you coming back over and over again every time a special occasion occurs in your life.

The problem was that the sale was the week before I returned.  When I called to see if they would make an exception, the sales woman said, “No problem, we will still honor the sale.”

Here’s what the flyer stated.  “You are invited to our Pandora Event.  Come into the store and choose from our large selection of Pandora jewelry’s charms, necklaces, and bracelets.  Get a FREE Pandora Lobster Claw Bracelet with every $75.00 Pandora Purchase.”

So I went with my wife. The sales woman stated that we could upgrade to any of the other bracelets, of course at a higher price.  I won’t go into the one we chose, but then we purchased what they call spacers, and of course a few charms to make it look good.  I spent a total of over $5,000. 

Now here’s the kicker and the great part about this lesson.  Remember the sales message said,” Get a Free Pandora Lobster Claw Bracelet with every $75.00 Purchase?  That’s 66 bracelets. 

All of a sudden it dawned on me….I now can give a bracelet to a lot of people.  For those that I’m always purchasing something during the year, it now gives me an opportunity to purchase a charm or charms for those persons on their special occasions. 

When I asked the owner of the store about the bracelets, he stated that the company Pandora gives the bracelets to them for free. 

Anyway, I now proceeded to spend more money.  How? Because I upgraded 4 bracelets for my granddaughters, and of course had to purchase spacers and a charm for the first occasion.  Just because they gave me the additional 66 bracelets, I spent an additional $3,000.  No I didn’t upgrade the bracelet to a gold one, but the silver one looked real nice also. 

So the first lesson is the obvious one of….give something VALUBALE away for free! “Free” can be your ticket to huge sales. 

Here’s the second lesson I want to share with you….make it easy to recreate your successful sales.
 
Unfortunately, I had to give them this idea. They should have come up with it first….

 I asked them if they had a data base of their customers and they said “Yes” they did.  I asked them to record my granddaughter’s birthdates, my wife’s birth date, and also my two daughter’s birthdates, to remind me that I needed to come in to purchase another charm for this special day.

This not only made it easy for me to come back in and purchase these charms; it also made it easy for them to recreate similar types of purchases from me in the future.

If any of you have daughters and grandchildren, you know they have at least 3 to 4 special events happening each year.  Regarding my wife Barbara, she has special events all of the time. 

In my book, “ How to Get Customers to Call, Buy and Beg for More,” I go into an entire chapter on how to double your business in one year and the concept is often referred to as “The Bump.” It’s all about creating ways to get your customers to continually come back and purchase from you over and over again. 

You can let your imagination run amok and determine how much they just made in profit, plus how much more they will make in the future. 

Would you like to have similar kinds of sales results?

Let me know if you can implement this concept, or if you have already done so.  This is so powerful that I would like your comments about it. 

Technorati Tags: acquire customers, grow revenues, grow sales

Back on 9/2/2010, I published a blog article entitled “The no. 1 strategy for getting new customers”.  I want to continue that thought here for this reason: many business owners are passing up a large revenue source by not including offline marketing in their marketing arsenal.

How would you like to reach 50,000 to 100,000 prospects, already pre-selected as being likely to buy from you, at no cost whatsoever?  These prospects may be waiting for you offline through “Host Relationships.”

Here’s how it works.  You research and find a non-competing company whose customers are the same type of people as your customers.  You convince the company to pay for a mailing to their customers promoting your product.  You split the profits 50/50 with the host company.

Does it sound too good to be true?

In my years in business, I did it dozens of times. The profits it generated were huge.  The Host Relationship, and it has some variations to it, is one of the most leveraged marketing techniques I can teach you about. 

It’s the most leveraged because the host company may have spent many years and millions of dollars identifying prospects and winning the trust of their customers.  By accessing that customer base, you get the benefit of all that effort and expense without having to spend a penny yourself.

One thing though.  I want to stress that you should be very generous with the host company when you set up the deal with them.  If you can’t get the host company to pay for the mailing, offer to pay for it yourself.  Or you can offer them 100% until they double their investment, and then a lower percentage thereafter.

The key thing is to make it happen. Offer them whatever it takes to get them to do the joint venture with you.  You will have invested so little up front and you will have so much to gain yourself.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you own a home or an office cleaning business, you should contact every carpet dealer within a geographic area you think you can handle.  Offer to pay the cost of a mailing to their customers. 

For the mailing to the customers, you should write a letter that will look like it came from the dealer. In it, you recommend your cleaning service to his customers.  The carpet dealer receives a percentage of the sales. 

This is a win-win for both of you—the carpet dealer wins because he generates more revenue and you win because you are accessing only qualified prospects.

The cost of acquiring a customer via a host relationship is a fraction of what it would be if you ran an ad or did a mailing of your own.  This results in a higher profit on every sale for you.

You must offer a good product or service so that the host companies have nothing to lose by recommending you.  It will mean thousands of dollars of profits for them with almost no effort on their part.

Hope this gave you an idea you can implement soon.  Let me know your thoughts on this strategy and the results you’ve gotten when you implement it.

If you want to re-read the previous article I wrote on this subject, you can see the article here: http://www.kenvarga.com/news/the-no-1-strategy-for-getting-new-customers/

Technorati Tags: acquire customers, grow revenues, grow sales, host beneficiary relationships, host relationships, joint ventures

I have seen so many missed opportunities from businesses that I purchase from…opportunities to serve me better and for them to make more profit at the same time. 

In my opinion, every call that is made to a business is an opportunity for an up-sell.

Did you ever purchase anything from an infomercial that you viewed?  Because of the increasing media costs to advertise, the immediate telephone up-sell has evolved from an extra profit center to a necessity. When it is done properly, preferably with a live person taking the order, probably 20% plus of all calls can yield one or more up-sells.  From individuals I know in the business, that is often the profit that keeps an infomercial on the air.

If you call and order from any successful, sophisticated mail-order/catalog company, after your order is taken, the order-taker will talk you through one or more up-sells.  If you want to hear what these sound like, call up and buy things from one of these companies.

You have the same opportunity whenever a customer calls you, seeking any questions to be answered, to now have your operators ,or anyone else answering the phones, be trained with a canned statement about up-selling to something that they will benefit from.

Notice I said, “Something THEY will BENEFIT from.”  You don’t want to up-sell something that is useless to them and that isn’t of benefit.  They will be cheated and you will lose them as a customer.  So do it with honesty and integrity.  Only up-sell something you know they will benefit from using.  If you are in the service business, it’s the same.  Only offer something that they will benefit from.

That means you have to take the time to figure out ahead of time all the ways you can help your customers accomplish their goals better, faster, and cheaper. Then when they call, don’t just fill the order; find out their ultimate reason for calling, then help them do it better, faster, cheaper with up-sell packages you’ve created.

Where can you create up-sell offers in your business that will benefit both you and your customers?  What are some noted examples of up-sells you’ve come across?

Technorati Tags: profit, telephone up-sell, up sell

A significant number of people are what I call “participators.”  They appreciate and desire being part of a special group.   They value being with others that have a special or common purpose.  

Smart marketers find ways to create this special group and offer exclusivity to that segment of their customers.

I call such a group “The Inner Circle Group.” 

Every business has a segment of their customers that create most of their profits.  You could invite that segment of your customers to join your “Inner Circle Group.” 

It is a way to bond customers to you and communicate with them in a more effective way. 

When I consult with companies, this is one strategy I find that is often missing.

When missing, I suggest to the company owners that they find out who those “participators” are and to create an inner circle for them. 

As an example, in the banks I started, I created an inner circle of business owners.
 
Those owners not only felt special that they were invited into this exclusive group, but they also worked very hard to recommend the bank to all of the business owners that they personally knew. 

Almost any business can create an “inner circle group”. 

How can you utilize this strategy for your business?

Technorati Tags: Customer Retention, customer satisfaction, grow sales, increase profits, increasing profits, lifelong customer

When I started my first company, it was a struggle.

Over the years I realized how difficult it was to create a customer, so I decided that I wanted to create companies that would keep customers longer and have them spend more with me. This way they would spend more money with me. I became very successful because of the relationship I built with my customers and I treated them all as dear friends.

After 5 years of doing this, I wondered why I was putting all the time and effort into building these companies. After some “quiet time” I realized it was because I had a “passion” for what I was doing. There were times I couldn’t wait to get into my office.

What is your passion?

You must find it if you don’t know what it is.

It will keep you motivated and keep you going in the bad times. We all dream, so it will keep your dreams alive and keep you on track in order to accomplish your goals.

There is an old saying, “without a driving passion, you will become one of the “95% group.” Those are individuals without dreams, ambitions, and goals.

I’d like to offer a suggestion…

Right now, this minute, list the 10 things you have always wanted more of. Then rank them in order of personal passion to you. Review that list and look for the one that jumps out at you and gets you in the gut. That’s the one that will change your entire life.

I promise you that when you find your driving passion, everything in your life will start happening faster and faster.

Now, let’s get to your customer’s “why”…

Why do your customers purchase from you? It could be because of the great service you give, the great product you offer, or it could be a multitude of things. Whatever it is, you must find out why they purchase from you.

Once you know why, your job becomes about how to satisfy that "why" in a way that gets your customers to be passionate about doing business with you.

This is probably something new for you to try. But trust me, when you create a passion in your customer for doing business with you, you will have created an advocate for your business and services. Passionate customers will do business with you over and over and will refer everyone they know to you.

So your objective in dealing with your customers is to create passion in them for what you do.

When you are passionate and your customers are passionate, can you think of a better way to do business?

Let me hear your ideas about this.

Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer loyalty, Customer Retention, customer satisfaction

A few weeks ago I wrote a Marketing Tip issue on using upsells. Because it’s such an important topic for your business, I wanted to give you a few more examples here in the blog.

I live on the Jersey Shore and there are a lot of boat rental places. A friend of mine owns one. Unfortunately the rental season is only about 4 short months—if the weather is good. Here are a few suggestions I gave him.

People travel hours and hours from upper New Jersey and New York State to visit the Jersey Shore.

For about $300 you can rent a ski boat for 8 hours. Perhaps more for more exotic boats!

I can just picture what is happening within the family. They have already had about $2000 out of pocket, at minimum, for the rental of the unit they are staying in. Their kids are going crazy and bouncing off the walls because they want to go to the beach or go swimming.

Here’s what the parents are probably hearing—

“I want to go tubing like those kids.”

“I’m bored, can we go to the boardwalk.”

“I want to go jet skiing like those kids.”

There are probably dozens of other things parents are hearing.
So one of the things they will do is to rent a boat. Here’s what I told my friend about how to upsell the boat rental.

He could say: “So you want a boat for the day—or do you want it for a week? I can save you more money by the week.”

“Do you want to rent skis, tubes, or would you prefer wake boards or knee boards?”

These are just a couple of the questions I created for his sales people to ask. There are a lot more items he rents out.

Just one more example—

A lot of the women, and some of the children, don’t want to go on the boat, so while the father and other children are out, what do Mom and the remaining children do? They sit on the beach where they can watch dad in the boat.

My friend says this: “Are all of you going to go on the Boat?” When the husband says, no she won’t and one of my children won’t, the sales person says, “Would you like to rent a chaise lounge so that you are comfortable while you are watching from the beach?”

Another upsell.

Can you think of others? I’m sure you can. Let’s hear what you come up with in the Comment section below.

There are always ways to upsell your prospects, but you have to figure out what works best.

I believe upsells work for all businesses. Every business can offer, and should offer, upgrades or upsells.

Here’s a few more examples:

1. Better levels of service or access to the experts.

2. More exclusivity than others will get.

3. More additional bonuses.

4. A “members-only “get-together, privately held and exclusive.

5. Perks for purchasing more and more often.

Add a couple or more to this list in the comments section.

See my Marketing Tip of The Week article about the proper mindset to have about upsells. It’s not just about making more profit; it’s about helping your customer get a greater outcome from the transaction. See the article here: http://www.aweber.com/archive/kenvarga/VwyW/h/6_Ways_To_Get_Your_Customers_To.htm

After refreshing your mind about the proper mindset, come back here and give a suggestion for another upsell.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Technorati Tags: up sell, upsell, upselling

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