SYNOPSIS IN POINT FORM
• Upselling – increasing the value of a sale
• The Nibble – adding on a small extra purchase at the end
• Various Options – give different priced options to choose from
• Bundles – create combined packages to increase the price
• Cross Sell – offer other products and services
• Consumables – include products and services which need to be repeatedly purchased
• Subscriptions – tie down clients to a regular purchase scheme
• Loyalty – create loyalty schemes
• Incentives – devise sales incentive schemes
• Referral – reward client referral
FULL ARTICLE
BUNDLES
With many products and services it is often possible to package up at least two or three of them together, if not more, to offer them as a bundle to your customers. This is the set menu style principle as opposed to the a la carte. Naturally it is always best first to calculate the average spend of your customers and making sure that your bundles will considerably increase your sales in this manner. Some form of monetary advantage is usually expected from clients, as in item 1 + item 2 + item 3 = say the price of 2.5 items rather than 3, when purchased individually. The popular buy 2 get 1 free is also a type of bundling.
CROSS SELLING
Many businesspeople have more than one feather in their cap. They might have various and diverse products and services in which they are involved. If you are spending time and resources to market and promote each one of them separately, why not combine your efforts in different ways, by promoting them together whenever you can. The options here are infinite, from simply handing out a joint business card or leaflet to clients at each respective outlet, to joint advertising and more. Often you would be surprised how many of your customers in one activity will also require your others. In cases where you have nothing to cross sell, you could even consider making such a reciprocal arrangement with a third party, to cross sell each other’s products, establishing an advantageous agreement for both sides.
CONSUMABLES
In certain types of businesses sales might be hampered by the fact that once a purchase is made, then in all likelihood the same customer will not return for many months, or at times, even for years. In such cases it makes a lot of sense to try and include the sale of consumable products or even services. This is the basis for maintenance agreements offered along with the purchase of certain equipment. The consumables may be so profitable and lucrative in certain scenarios, that the sale of the original items are actually subsidised and in some cases even given out for free. One good strategy is to lease or loan the equipment at no charge, thus enticing new clients, then to charge a relatively high price for the consumables, without ever losing ownership of the machines and equipment.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
These need not be limited to newspapers and magazines. You may create a form of subscription, or regular and ongoing purchasing scheme with many other products and services. One such strategy is the club method, whereby customers are automatically asked to join a group, offering them certain benefits, against regular purchases. Be creative in your thinking and try to formulate ways of hooking up customers to your business, rather than just settling for a one time purchase.
To be continued…