Think Shopping Basket, Not Individual Sales
The general rule is 20% of your customers represent 60-80% of your sales, 60% of customers generate 20-40% of sales and the last 20% are likely causing you to lose money. So why are 20% of your customers generating most of the money and the 60% buying so little?
This question holds part of the key to significantly increasing your sales with almost no cost. In many cases the 20% are taking a shopping basket approach to buying from your company. In this situation “Shopping Basket” means, they buy multiple products in one purchase or buy a greater portion of the total products offered over several visits/sales calls.
The actual analysis to unravel the behaviors of each group can get a bit heavy but here are some principles to work with that can get the 60% to spend more.
1. Sell 2-4 Products Together – by bundling (grouping products together under one discounted price) the customer generally perceives they are getting more for their money and will spend more to take advantage of the savings. Be creative and you might be surprised at what works.
2. Watch Subtle Buying Trends – during certain times of the week, month and year people/businesses will tend to buy particular items because of that period. Catching subtle increases in product sales and making those items more obvious to others that have the same need can generate growth.
3. Ask What Else They Need – this very simple question can boost sales up to 5-10%. At times the buyer may forget they need something else and this prompt reminds them to take action.
4. Suggest A Complementary Product – if only one product was selected, a simple mention of another product that goes along well with the first one can generate another 5-10% sales increase if done consistently.
Offer An Incentive To Try – This is different then a promotional discount. Pick a few products that are not getting the attention they deserve and highlight their features and benefits. Next, offer an imaginative way to ‘tempt’ a customer to take a chance.
This is a popular principle with food and software. Food dishes can incorporate a new item with an old recipe and reduce the risk of disappointment. With software 30 day trials are becoming increasing popular so the value of the package is tested and the buyer sees the value in advance.
Blog By Andrew Ballenthin, President of Sol Solutions. When you need to stand apart from your competition talk to Sol Solutions for your marketing, strategic business planning, and operations streamlining needs. www.solsolutions.ca Passionate About Connecting Pieces.
The Community Marketing Blog is a place for businesses to share their marketing and successful growth stories. Its objective is to spread inspiration, strategy, and practical application of business principles in order to help more companies succeed whether times are tough or a practical solution is required to get through a unique growth challenge.
Submit Your Marketing or Successful Growth Story. Sol Solutions is taking stories and tips from businesses and entrepreneurs that wish to publish on this site at info@solsolutions.ca. Advantages of having your 300-400 word article published are:
- This blog has been submitted to major search engines and hundreds of smaller ones.
- This blog is linked to several major sites with RSS feeds to circulate its updates.
- This publicity is currently free.
- Your story may help a potential customer to find you.
- Published articles on your business help you stand out from your competition.
- Publishing and distributing your story boosts your search engine rankings.
- Send your clients and suppliers an on-line story about your success for free.
Comments