Raising your prices may back fire.
Let’s start with the obvious, raising your prices will gain more money, but how many customers will you lose? Will the amount of increase on the sale cover the cost of the lost customers? Will the current economy support your raise in prices?
You must do lots of market research and poll your customers directly. No one likes to pay more, especially for the same products. If you need to raise prices and have ‘regular’ customers, consider having new prices for all new customers. This will help you take care of your current customers and still raise your prices for the future.
Getting more customers means you are prepared for more customers
Many people think that they must get more customers if they want to get more money. I always ask my clients, “If you got 100 new customers, would you honestly be able to handle that additional business?” Getting more customers works if you have a system set up to turn your leads into customers and your customers into lifetime fans of you and your company.
Getting more from the customers you already have
The next two strategies are new to a lot of business owners. It involves the customers you already have. Too many people close the sale, give the product or service and the transaction stops there. I would offer the fact that the transaction STARTS at that moment.
There have been numerous studies asking people why they switched companies. The number one reason usually goes something like this: “I did not feel they cared for me anymore.”
If business owners take time to get to know their customers, they would have some valuable insight into what their customer’s needs were. They could then create a whole sales sequence to meet those needs and add more value to their customers.
Remember, business makes money when they add more value for their customers.
Getting customers to purchase more
Every business has a sales cycle. When someone buys, they are most open to your suggestions for new products. Think about the last time you bought a new car. They already sold you on the car, but they keep asking if you want ‘clear coat protection’ or tinted windows, or a better sound system, or a deluxe package, etc. They know the upsells that work for their customers.
An upsell is something that is offered that compliments what you are already selling. If you sell burgers, you naturally ask is someone wants cheese on their burger or if they want fries. If you are a lawyer, you ask if you clients want to keep you on retainer, ‘so nothing like this happens again.’
Get customers to buy more frequently
If you have a service that is needed often, like a maid service, you can easily suggest extra cleaning days in a month or specialized ‘deep cleaning’ services. However, if you are a plumber, you may not be fixing a toilet every month for a client, so what can you do?
First, you can create a reason to keep in touch with your customers. Send helpful information via email or in the mail. Keep your business name in front of any customer who has bought from you in the past. With our electronic world, sending thousands of emails is inexpensive and you can even automate the whole process.
Second, you can create a complimentary product. I have seen an air conditioning company starting to offer electrical services. It was natural for them to offer services that their employees were already skilled in. It also gave them an opportunity to talk to their customers about their newest services.