Start Adding Value To Increase Your Small Business Profits

Coming up with new marketing ideas to grow your business can be frustrating. However you know that you can not just sit and wait for business to come through the door, you need to be proactive and you need to create opportunities for new business. Sometimes just tweaking some little things can make a big difference to your business and the overall profit you receive.

Consider the difference between average sales of 10% over the lifetime of a client, this could mean thousands of dollars or potentially millions of dollars of additional revenue and profit.

The obvious way to increase the average sales per client is to increase prices, however by doing so you also risk losing business and in fact decreasing profit, therefore it is not a risk we should take. Unfortunately, in a competitive marketplace, your product must be priced appropriately, or else you risk losing customers and profits.

The question is how: how do you increase the average sales per client for your small business without losing clients. In fact many of the techniques below may even increase the number of clients. Because customers buy value not items, when you increase the value the cost becomes less of an issue.

1. Adjusting your Point of Sales process:

Recommend additional products / services. While talking with your client explore their real needs and discover any additional products that your clients may need that you can offer. Remember they want their problems solved. Help them solve their problems and they will gladly compensate you.

Bundle Products. By putting together a "ready made" package to solve your clients most pressing issues, you can position yourself as a problem solver not just a product seller.

Recommend value products over cheap price. When a prospect comes to you looking for a product, review their needs before recommending a product. Often they think the cheapest item will work for their solution. Help your clients understand the problem and difference in products. This alone can increase your sales drastically.

Product Placement. Place product that are used together - in the same area. This could mean making a small display that highlights an event or occasion. Consumers by experiences more than products. Help them create an experience. By grouping like minded products together, you will inspire your clients and their spending.

2. SALES SKILLS

Use Consultative selling to understand all their needs. Take the time to understand your clients problems. They are coming to you to solve their problems. Ask questions. I like to think of myself as a doctor and before I prescribe any solution, I want to understand all their symptoms. This will help your clients feel heard and create more trust with you.

Determine budget before quote. As you are asking questions and listening, find out if they have determined a budget. This will help you know what price points to be considering.

3. PROMOTIONS

Promote seasonal products. Consider the different problems your clients experience at different times of the year. Create products specific for those problems and offer them during the appropriate seasons.

Buy One - Get one. This can be used in so many ways. You can use a buy this and get that at 50% off, or free. Used with discretion, this can be a huge boost. Consider what your clients want and off the get one to increase sales.

Increase Value offering. Instead of discounting a product, consider keeping the same price and adding more value to the product. For example, include 10% more product FREE instead of a 10% discount on your product.

Using these marketing ideas for your small business will help you to increase the average sales amount while increasing revenue and profit for your business.