How to Maintain Sales when Customer Cash is Tight
Although economic recovery has made solid progress since the global financial crisis which blighted the first decade of the new millennium, many consumers still have less money to spend and have become more careful and selective in their purchasing habits. Wise businesses will take appropriate action to minimise the impact of reduced turnover.
Respected sales training providers Maguire Training can help businesses in this respect: their excellent course Maximising Incoming Business enables business leaders, sales managers and salespeople to recognise the potential opportunity of incoming business, learn how to create sales demand and how to use gentle persuasion and bargaining to obtain customer commitment.
There are several different ways in which businesses can respond to the threat to sales posed by customers reigning in their spending. In this article Maguire Training suggests several strategies which companies might consider in order to ensure that, even in financially tight times, customers continue to spend with them.
- Introduce tiered pricing
You may be able to offer your product or service at different price points which accommodate varying customer budgets. Consider introducing a bare-bones 'value' package at the lowest price, a 'standard' mid-range package and a 'premium' package which includes items of additional value to the customer such as 24-hour aftercare, an extended warranty or a free associated product or service.
- Give customers as much supportive purchasing information as possible
Thanks to the internet, today's customers have immediate access to a wealth of information, opinion and testimonials which enable them to pick and choose the product that most closely fulfils their needs within their budget.
Encourage positive online reviews, Twitter comments and Facebook likes (assuming you have a social media marketing strategy) and provide detailed information at every opportunity to promote your product or service and to influence and justify a potential customer's buying decision.
- Explore options for reducing production or service delivery costs
If there really is no leeway to reduce the price of your offering in order to retain or attract customers, investigate ways in which you can reduce the costs of providing your product or service, perhaps by sourcing a less expensive manufacturer or materials supplier or by updating or streamlining your own production facility.
- Offer a loyalty scheme
Every business from supermarkets to airlines offers loyalty programmes these days, for the simple reason that they facilitate customer retention. Schemes don't have to be complex card-issuing affairs; for smaller businesses a loyalty programme may be as simple as offering repeat customers a small discount on the next purchase each time they buy from you.
- Become a market-leading specialist in your field
Customers will always turn to a product or service which they know is of good quality, reliable, offers excellent value for money and is produced by a manufacturer with an outstanding reputation for customer service. Conduct customer research, invest in product development and customer service training and keep an eye on what your competitors are doing to ensure that you stay one step ahead and are the first choice provider for customers.
Every business can benefit from knowing how to find and generate additional customer revenue, and this is an area of training in which the sales experts at Maguire Training excel. Businesses wishing to acquire the benefits offered by Maximising Incoming Business may like to know that the course is offered both as an onsite session and as online training which is delivered via Maguire Training?s innovative and intuitive E-learning system and can be accessed any time and in any location from an internet connected PC or device.
