Keep Business Booming All Year Round With These Top Tips

Editor’s Note: Here at Dispatches, we are always looking for ways to help our readers do things. For some of our readers, that means helping navigate the working world, for others, it means assisting in the ever challenging question, “what’s for dinner?” For still others, it means figuring out how to balance family life with everything else. In an effort to aid in all of these endeavors, we have collaborated on this article written specifically for our readers.

As a business owner, it can be difficult to keep the momentum going. If you’re in a slump there are a few things you can do to mitigate the down times but you should focus on why the momentum has changed before implementing any of the suggestions below. It’s possible doing any of the suggested steps will only increase sales for a short amount of time and put you right back to where you were before (or worse). 

PROMOTIONS AND GIVEAWAYS
Every industry is competitive. Your offers need to be better than those provided by the competition. Take a look at the offers available elsewhere and consider how you could better them. Get creative with your giveaways ideas. You could offer a gift when a customer spends a certain amount of money. Giving away something with your company’s logo on can be a great way to stick in people’s minds. Buy one get one free offers can be enticing for new customers. Be cautious of the inital costs and make sure you know where the break even point is for the products. 

USE YOUR WEB PRESENCE
If you don’t have a website you are likely missing out on customers. People rarely look in the yellow pages for businesses and instead rely on word of mouth and the ability to find the business online. If you already have a website, consider participating in social media. Social media also gives a more personal touch to your business and with a good content calendar in place you can make connections you otherwise would miss. 

OFFER LOYALTY BENEFITS
Loyalty programs are an excellent way to ensure customers come back. Gaining regular customers is a must, as they’re the ones who will tell their friends about you. Never underestimate the power of word of mouth. Loyalty programs can be as simple as a stamp card that offers a free product, or money off when it gets filled up. An excellent way to encourage first-time customers to return is to offer money off the next purchase.

CHANGE PRODUCTS ON OFFER
Keeping a fresh selection of goods on offer is essential. People don’t want to see the same things every time they come to you. You should be getting new products all the time, which you can integrate with the older products. Every now and again, it might be worth getting rid of all old stock and putting out entirely new things. Make sure you advertise your new stock to customers too.

SALES
Getting rid of your old stock gives the perfect excuse for a sale. Sales are great for drumming business. Advertise the sale using traditional and non-traditional methods.