If you are a small business owner and want to grow your business quickly, there are two ways to do it without having to spend extra money on advertising. Keep reading to learn more.
Many small business owners are not marketing experts. They are entrepreneurs, people-ideas and inspirers for everyone else they interact with. The standard answer for many small business owners is to go out and knock on the cobblestones if they want more business. After all, if you want more money, you need more customers, right? Well not always.
There are two other things you can do if you don’t need to increase the number of customers. In fact, many small businesses are unloaded and cannot take more customers into their workload. Instead, try these two things:
1. Increase the amount in dollars of each customer’s order– Here you really get in, roll up your sleeves and find out what else the client wants. Find out what their problem is and offer them MORE products or services to help solve the problem.
Suppose you own a hardware store. A customer comes in, looking for a screw for 39 cents. You help them find it by spending 15 minutes with them and they leave happy. What if you ask them about a problem they are trying to solve. Perhaps they were trying to hang a rusty bird feeder. You can show them your full line of stainless bird feeders, as well as a package of premium seeds, increasing your order by 39 cents to $ 39.
If you already have a customer in your business and they have already made a commitment to purchase, this is the time when you need to work on solving their exact problem. The customer will be grateful and you will earn much more money in the process.
2. Increase the frequency when your current customers return to make another purchase– Here you need to become a master of direct marketing. Using your current customer list, you will need to contact them on a regular basis. Create opportunities for a call to action when you pull a customer off the couch and enter your business. This can be achieved through time-limited coupons, contests, free consultations, entertainment and many other things designed to bring them back. Loyalty programs will also fall into this category.
By doing just these two things, some businesses have doubled or tripled their revenue in just a few months. All you need to do is perfectly solve the customer problem and often remind them that you are still in business.