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Five Ways You Could Be Losing Sales
(and what to do about it)
By Janet Attard
The holiday shopping season has started. The shoppers are looking in your
windows, walking in your doors, and making purchases. Nevertheless you
could be losing sales every time a customer walks out the door. Here's why
- and what you can do about it.
Your sales associates aren't suggesting related products to buy
Your customers have many, varied needs. The woman who buys a sweater
for her daughter as a holiday gift may be planning to buy a skirt to go
with it, or need a present to give a co-worker. The man who who buys a
necklace for his wife may never think about buying a matching earrings or
bracelet unless one of your associates suggests it. And what person who
buys toys or electronic products can't use batteries? Making those
suggestions can boost the size of your average sale - and your profits
without costing you one penny more in advertising expense.
You don't put impulse-buy items near the sales counter
People get fidgety waiting in line to have their purchases rung up.
Capitalize on their desire to look at anything other than the line of
people ahead of them by putting small impulse items on display near the
checkout line.
You don't capture the customer's name
The customer who buys from you today may well need similar items in
the future. But they won't buy from you a second time unless they remember
your name and what you sell. Don't rely on advertising alone to help those
new customers become repeat customers. Instead, make an effort now to
capture their names and addresses. Among the ways: ask shoppers to sign up
for a mailing list (and use it to announce special sales), or run a
contest and capture the names and addresses from the contest entry forms.
Tip: with more and more people using the Internet, be sure to have a spot
on your signup forms for email addresses.
You don't give the customer alternate ways to make a purchase
Suppose a new customer rushes into your shop on their lunch hour. They
see a few items they might buy, but they look at their watch and realize
they don't have time to purchase them now. So, they put them back and walk
out. Will they come back? Maybe not. If you have a web site or 800 number
help them make that purchase by publicizing the phone number or URL in
your shop. Have fliers on the counter or near the door that people can
take with them so they know where to place an order if they can't get back
to your shop.
You don't follow up after the initial sale
Satisfied customers are your best prospect for new sales. But you
won't bring in as much repeat business as you could if you don't keep in
touch with your customers. Try to send your customers a mailing once a
month or once every other month at minimum. Send out coupons , send out
notices of special sales, catalogs, announcements (for instance, when you
do get that web site set up), or newsletters. But whatever you do, keep in
touch with frequent reminders about the many goodies your store offers for
their shopping pleasure all year long.
About the author
Janet Attard is the founder of
the award-winning Business
Know-How small business web site and information resource. Janet is
also the author of The
Home Office And Small Business Answer Book and of Business
Know-How: An Operational Guide For Home-Based and Micro-Sized Businesses with
Limited Budgets. Follow Janet on Twitter at
http://www.twitter.com/JanetAttard.
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