Low Cost Keys to Finding More Sales in a Slow Economy (cont.)...

Key 3 - Look at things from your customer's point of view.

Too many businesses build a business that they want to promote, instead of a business that customers want to buy from.

I am NOT saying that you have to change your business… but I AM saying that you have to look at your business from your customer's point of view and then talk to him in his language.

Nobody talks to a bride about her wedding cake explaining that this will be a wonderful creative challenge and that it will be a lot of fun to do and a chance to really flex those creative muscles. Nobody that actually gets customers, that is.

Instead, a wedding cake business will talk about how beautiful the cake will be, how stunned the guests will be with the bride's exquisite taste, and how she will be the envy of all her friends and bridesmaids.

You can have a business that is simply what you like and want (but you must work extra hard to find the other people in the world who share that with you… and who are in a position to buy from you) OR you can have a business that is what some (readily accessible) segment of the population likes and wants… which you can get into creatively. Either way, you are identifying the needs/wants of the potential customers and creating/promoting to match those.

Key 4 -Find ways to add value to a sale.

Napoleon Hill had what he called a law of ever-increasing returns: Always give more value than that for which you are paid.

The first step is to make sure that what you are offering for sale is worth more than you are charging for it. When you do this, quite often, that is all that is required.

But sometimes, additional value can be added that will help the customer quickly make a decision in your favor. The idea is to make buying from you a "no-brainer" in a way that is good for your business overall.  The internet marketers know this and use it to good effect.  They learned it from the TV infomercials... "but wait! There's more...."

If your prices are already a great value, then don't discount them further. Instead, offer a bonus. A bonus, in this case, is something additional that you can offer that is desirable to the customer but takes very little extra from you.

Let's take the wedding cake business, again.  Her price is competitive to the quality bakeries. She has better flavor than the production cakes. She is offering custom design and exquisite decoration (and getting paid a reasonable return on it.) As she speaks with the bride, showing her works (in her portfolio), the bride may be impressed but still hesitant. An offer to throw in a dozen decorated cupcakes (for the snacking pleasure of the wedding party before the wedding or as honeymoon treats) will add a strong pull. And for the business owner, to do some cupcakes at the same time as the cake is a snap - very little extra cost and time, but great return.

There are lots of ways to add a bonus that is meaningful to the customer but easily produced by a little creative thinking.

Please turn the page for Key 5 ===>  

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