How To Use Outside The Box Ideas To Increase Your Sales In A Hurry Despite The Sluggish Economy

Furniture World Magazine

As I finish writing this article there are approximately 16 days left before Christmas, but regardless of when you read this, it isn’t too late to start thinking OUTSIDE THE BOX to increase sales and profits for your company. I am a firm believer, especially in a sluggish economy, that it is a necessity to be different from your competitors. It is critical that you are thinking differently by selling and servicing your customers in unique ways that set you apart from competition.Harris Interactive did a survey for Amazon.com that revealed 32% of Americans plan to spend less this holiday season and 72% of Americans said they are looking for bargains. That being the case there are 3 things that retailers can do to have a successful holiday season. 1) Get a higher percentage of your existing customers to do business with you 2) Get a larger share of wallet from your existing customers 3) Get more new customers to make up for the decrease in the average sales transaction Since it is easier to do and more cost effective, I would recommend you target your existing customers. I woulsuggest spending more money to do what ever it takes to court those customers. Once you have them in your store, I would be every consultative with them to help them with their gift giving needs so you can increase your average ticket. One simple way to boost traffic to your store is simply sending your best clients a hand addressed holiday card, enclosing a gift certificate or special offer, reminding them of upcoming sales incentives and personally reaching out to them with a telephone call. If you don’t have time to get out a mailing, you still have time to call all your customers. When you speak with them or leave them a message you can let them know that you didn’t want them to miss out on your customer appreciation special or the great merchandise you have selected and set aside for them since you know their needs so well. One of my clients, “What Fun!” a gift gallery in Atlanta, actually received thank you notes from their clients as a result of them sending out Thanksgiving cards with two gift certificates enclosed. If you don’t have the time to reach out to each customer personally, leverage the power of voice messaging technology, where you can record one message and it is distributed out to hundreds of thousands of clients at a time. Voice messaging is a wonderful way in which to thank your customers and tell them how much you appreciate them. It’s a safe bet that your competition isn’t doing this, and it will make it easier for you to stand out and have “top of mind” positioning with your customers. A great example of how to leverage this technology is how one of my clients recently leveraged it. They are one of the largest independent jewelers in the South. He wrote his customers and followed up with a voice message to 10,000 of them; telling them that 25 years ago he started with 6 pieces of jewelry and today because of their loyalty, he has grown to be the largest jewelry store in Georgia. He also wanted to alert them that something special was coming in the mail, and just for coming into the store they would receive a personal gift. Since the consumer has many options of where they shop, they might be more inclined to shop with you if you went the extra mile to tell them just how much you appreciate their business.Are you maximizing your share of wallet of each customer? How good of a job are your salespeople doing, up selling your customers. Are they finding out everyone on your customer’s gift list and making recommendations of great gift ideas for those people? Take a page out of McDonald’s book; they are famous for asking “would you like fries and a coke with your hamburger”. Heck now it is so automatic it comes in a value meal. Have a contest to reward the sales associates who end up with the most up sells.What is your business doing to stimulate word of mouth advertising? Borrow a chapter out this year’s biggest romantic comedy “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. The movie will surpass 200 million dollars mostly on strong word of mouth advertising.How easy would it be to hand out fresh baked goods like cookies or brownies to your customers? You could provide some refreshments like fresh coffee, hot chocolate or soft drinks. For those very busy days when you know your stores are very crowded and there is a good chance your customers might be on his or her feet for long periods of time, how about providing free massages. This would generate some buzz for your store, and it really wouldn’t cost you a whole lot to do this.So remember when you are looking to boost your sales, remember to THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX and implement some of these sound strategies than can help you boost your profits despite the sluggish economy. Larry Benet is the CEO and Chief Idea Officer of Outside The Box Promotions. You can email Larry at larrybenet@outsidetheboxpromotions.com. Vsit his website and sign up for a free newsletter on outside the box ideas and innovative sales and marketing solutions.