Some say this is a “down” economy. Some say it’s not so bad. Regardless, if YOUR furniture business is slow (and even if it’s not) you MUST stay active in your marketing activities if you want to stay in the game long-term.
Your continued business growth and profits mean you have to be consistent and diligent to stay active. If you place your efforts towards proven strategies, your time and resources will pay off well.
This week, I am entrusting you with 3 Secret Weapons to Gain Sales in a Questionable Economy (or in any economy). Put them into action immediately and over the next couple of weeks as you reach out to your local community. They work! You will be pleasantly surprised at how many people reach back out to you for your help and expertise.
1. Tie Your Offer to a Better Life
A slow economy does not mean a STOPPED economy, and although a lot of people are thinking more about saving instead of spending thoughtlessly, those with even a little discretionary income will still purchase, but they will make much more meaningful buying decisions. This is actually good news for business owners who themselves see the value in their products and services, and the improved quality of life their offerings can bring to potential clients.
As you put together your marketing materials for the weeks and months ahead, find a way to solidly tie what you offer to a better way of life for others. Focus on the facts of how your products and services are meaningful purchases with a payoff for a better future. Skillfully capture their attention as you express your excitement about what this purchased can mean for them. Be thrilled for them and with them.
If you run a furniture store, share how a new sofa and coffee table with storage will bring the family together for family game night or how home movies of the grandkids look best on one of your TV’s. If you are a fitness professional, paint the visual picture of how your expertise will translate into an active, fun life, and if you are a designer, excite people with color facts that point to a more purposeful, empowered life.
2. Offer services you would not normally offer—to get your foot in the door.
If people seem to be spending less during this time, then offer them a few products and services that are cost effective for them and that also provide them with much needed help, time savings, or money savings. FIND A REASON to get them to allow your foot in their door initially—even for a simple product or service that is much lower in price than your main offerings. Then, once you establish a relationship of trust, you will find it much easier to “sell up”.
Even though customers may start off with small purchases because of real or imagined budget restraints “at this time”, planting “simple seeds” with them now will help you to close other, more substantial sales later. Considering an advertised lead can cost you hundreds of dollars (just to get an appointment), anytime you have the opportunity to actually get paid to talk directly with a potential customer is money in your pocket and an incredible opportunity for you to connect and “shine”, imprinting your caring attitude into the customers mind.
Here are a few examples of special products and services you can focus on for a short time:
Designers and sales consultants who sell furniture or custom window treatments can offer a Two Hour Redesign or Life Colors Design Coaching, a fitness or wellness pro can offer a Holistic Wellness Assessment or an Exercise Form Critique. Regardless of your business, you can offer an interesting product or service that people want or need with a smaller commitment on their part (for now).
You might even host a SPECIAL EVENING EVENT where you offer great advice that can help new prospects get focused in an area that is important to them as you establish the beginnings of quality relationships.
3. Contact Past Customers
This is one of THE BEST AND MOST EFFECTIVE ways to make a sale. It costs next to nothing, and past customers already know you. Contacting past customers is so much easier than creating new customers, and once you connect with people again, their friends come into your circle, too (birds of a feather flock together) making way for new referrals.
Don’t call past customers to sell them anything. Just call and say hello, or let them know you were updating your Client Reference List and wondered if you could continue using their name as a reference for other clients, or something to that effect. You may even create some sort of simple and free “Great Tips” booklet, and call past customers to see if they would like their copy mailed or emailed!
The best way to contact past customers is by phone, going back first to the customers you have served over the past 6 months. After you have done that, go back one year, then 18 months. If you have never done this, you may be able to go back even farther.
My experience with calling past customers has been exceptional. Most were thrilled to hear from me, and a surprising number had projects they wanted immediate help with. Once you make the effort to contact your list, you’ll see that some past clients have thought to contact you but had forgotten your business name or number (don’t be offended, people are busy and they sometimes forget).
So now you have a simple but powerful charge from me and 3 Secret Weapons to Gain Sales in a Questionable Economy (or in any economy). Put them into action immediately. JUST DO IT. I promise, you’ll be so glad you did.
Have a Wildly Successful and Active Week,
Margo
Margarett (Margo) DeGange, M.Ed. is a Business and Design Coach in the Home Fashions Industry. She creates and delivers custom training programs for managed businesses and their sales consultants to help them communicate better with customers and increase sales and profits. Margarett is a Writer and Professional Speaker, and the President of The DeGangi Group and The DeGangi School of Interior Decoration, with both on sight and on-line courses in Interior Decorating, Marketing, and Redesign. For almost 20 years she has helped individuals and managed business owners in the interior fashions and decorating industries to earn more while fully enjoying the process.
Two of Margo’s popular products for furniture store owners and their sales professionals are The Decorating School Crash Course Power-Ed Pack (9 design lessons on video/audio with 12 hours of content), and the matching Decorating School Crash Course Learner Files to measure learning, provide added interactivity, and motivate sales consultants to own their opportunities for growth.
Visit Margo DeGange’s website at www.DecoratingForProfits.com for more information. Send email and questions to her at Margarett@furninfo.com.