I get asked this question all the time. And the answer is almost always the same - "ask your existing clients what else they would like to buy!".

Even better, if you know your best sellers (which you should) - you should be recommending they buy more of your best sellers, more regularly, and in bulk.

That is the ideal situation if it fits your business.

And most small businesses can MAKE it fit.

Your customers buy from you for very specific reasons. It is up to you to find out what that reason is - then decide if everyone is buying for similar reasons. There are usually many reason they buy - only a few of them they will usually admit (or consciously know).

So are you asking them?

One thing I do, is to pick up the phone for a couple hours a week and start dialing past customers. Find out how they are doing, what their experience has been dealing with you, and what else you could be doing - or doing better.

Yes, you may hear some painful answers - but at least you care to find out! Most business entrepreneurs don't care - or don't want to know.

#1 - you took the initiative to actually call them (very rare in the day of email)
#2 - you are showing them that they DO matter to you, much more than just an order number
#3 - the personal touch will never be replaced by email or technology tools! Email can be a royal pain - I feel it - as I'm sure you do too. That actual phone call makes a very powerful impression!

Try it out this week and see what kind of interesting ideas and connections you can drum up.

Do you have favorite techniques you use when sales are slow? Please share... this forum can be a goldmine of information if you share as well. There is more than enough to go around. Do tell.

Great idea Troy, right on the money. Here's another ...

One of the first places I look when it comes generating a quick cash infusion for a client are co marketing initiatives.

Many traditional business people tend to be very adversarial in their thinking. So they miss opportunities to slash the cost of acquiring new customers by teaming up with other complimentary businesses.

Almost always, with a little prodding and research, we can come up with at least a few golden opportunities to leverage the underused assets of other businesses that operate in the same economic ecosystem.

Often it's simply a matter of sitting down and making a list of the things people buy before and after they become customers. Looking upstream we’re sure to find complimentary vendors with underutilized lists… underutilized order pages… underutilized follow up messages etc… and we approach them with a turnkey revenue sharing proposal that gets my clients sales copy on that untapped virtual real estate.

And looking downstream, there are usually all kinds of opportunities to optimize back end revenues by offering existing clients complimentary third party items that people naturally buy 30, 60, and 90 days after becoming a customer.

The Internet is the perfect medium for these kinds of things because it removes much of the transactional friction that inhibits the sharing of assets.

Looking forward to seeing a whole bunch of other great 911 ideas in this section of the forum.

Thanks Daniel - great stuff there!

Another idea to think on is how you can pool your time and resources with other non-competitive businesses. Let's say you find 7 other businesses that sell complimentary products or services. Let's say that each of you contributed $500 into a pool. For you to invest that $500 on your own you would not get much in ad space or direct mail pieces.

Collectively though, you have $3,500!

With that you can buy some significant ad space - or a much larger mailing campaign.

I would suggest you organize some kind of special event day where you all get together in one location (or it could be all on one web page and one shopping cart setup). Advertise the event day in your local papers (targeted ones!) - and send out as many direct mail pieces as you can to existing clients of all your businesses.

Each company donates something for a door prize. Of all who visit or buy on your special day, there are draws for door prizes.

With each product shipment that goes out - or order confirmation - you need to remind people of all the other options that are available to them through your "co-op". A print brochure or min catalog. Maybe an autoresponder series on everyone's behalf.

Don't forget to offer numerous bundle options where you combine everyone's product and services into a Grand Enchilada" package. Have numerous bundles put in place - they will spend the money if you give them good reason to!

Get creative with this - some serious money can be made with these ideas. And they are perfect for slow sales seasons - or just cash flow crunches. Try it - and let us know your results.

To your success. Troy

I come from a brick and mortar type background. I am just starting out in branching out into larger ventures and on-line ventures. Most of my experience is from the small business owner and entreprenuer ($50Million and below) and doctor's offices/medical practices.

When I first start a new client a priority is to reactiviate old clients and customers. It is very simple to do and relatively cheap. We offer them a free office visit or a discounted service. The only thing the customer has to do is complete a small survey when they come in. Here is what is interesting (and I am sure the larger boys here experience the same thing)... most of my surveys show the customer stopped coming in or buying because they were ignored. Business owners dump tens of thousands into advertising to get a customer and then forget about them! Treat them like gold. Do not just keep trying to sell them stuff! Sell them stuff all the time. Just make sure you stroke them a little. Tell them thanks over and over. Offer repeat discounts. Give them valuable free services or product, not just crap.

New clients and growing the base by 2x plus. Simple method here is to pay a work-at-home parent to hand write thank you cards. Stuff the cards with a coupon/certificate for a free something (anything). Also stuff the card with a coupon for a friend to receive 1/2 off their first visit or purchase. The only catch is the friend has to say who recommended them and must fill out the coupon with all contact info. Guess what? That new customer now gets mailed the same thank you card. Now they get a free service and the coupon to recommend a friend. Its viral and it works. Oh, and the one who recommended the friend gets a different thank you card for the referral and a small gift (discount to a JV partner). I keep track of the referring customers too. They move up in gifts and services with the more referrals they provide that utilize the services. Simple database is all that is required. You can even have it que automatically. One doctor I work with has the girl behind the desk address the envelope as soon as the client signs in on the clipboard. The envelopes already have a stamp on it. This can easily be adapted to any business or market. It will build the list and provide a bunch of happy customers. Thank you cards are cheap and so is postage. I have better luck with USPS than email. This is supposed to be sincere. Make it that way.

Hold a contest. I had a barber do this one. Contact fellow barbers in the area and sponsor a contest. In this case the contest was for the best hair design cut into a boys hair (think logo or spider-web etc...). The challenge was put out to all barber and beauty shops. Pick an entry fee (in this case $200). Rules were simple. You get 1 hour in the chair to create your materpiece. The contestants were picked from local middle schools. You want a cool hair design and your name in the paper? Write a book report. Have teachers or clergy sign the entry form to say they did the report. Students names are all dropped in the hat and you pick how many students you need to match up with the barbers. Winner of the contest gets a ton of PR and 1/2 the entry fees. (The other half goes to charity). The sponsor gets PR for setting it up. Each sponsored shop gets a little PR from entering. The kids think its cool. All kids who did book reports got coupons for 1/2 off at the sponsors shop. The school promotes it because of the literacy and charity angles. Do you see where I am going with this. It is not difficult or expensive and it gets your name out there with tons of publicity. Now take all the kids who come in for the 1/2 price haircut and enter them into the database and start sending the above cards. In this case it pays to be the sponsor though all up front money went to the winner and the charity. LOL the winner wasn't even from the shop that sponsored the contest. But I bet he made more money than the winner

Just a few ideas I have used and been successful with. I am sure they can be adapted to any business online or off.

Best regards,

Jim

1. Leverage your loyal clients through testimonials and referrals.
2. Send direct mail to clones of your best clients. Construct a profile of the kind of customer who had been most drawn to you in the past, and engage a mailing-list broker to furnish names and addresses of individuals or companies matching the profile.
3. Offer a trendy new service. What unmet needs of existing clients could you satisfy? Invent new services or shift sideways to parallel services you might not otherwise bother with.
4. Telemarket to new prospects with an irresistible offer. Bend over backwards to prove yourself to people who have never done business with you. Your offer needs high appeal, a low introductory price, and a guarantee that removes all or most of their risk in trying you.
5. Sell your white elephants.

These ideas are not my own. They were found in an article I have by Marcia Yudkin. They are sound ideas to increase the customer base and turn a profit.

Just starting work with a new client in the Chiropractic industry. One of the things we were discussing in our strategy session was the sad state of customer communication in many service related businesses.

For 6 months I went 2 times a week to the chiro to have my lower back bent, twisted and cracked until it felt proper. My back has felt wonderful ever since.

Until recently.

I have been working out hard at my Tae Kwon Do - mix that in with a buggered up right ankle that has been broken, twisted, torn and sprained more times than I want to remember. As I get older - these things are starting to come back to haunt me.

The other night a week ago I sat on the floor working on some paperwork I needed done - not even thinking about the repurcussions.

I am seriously paying the price now. That 2 hour stint on the floor has put my back out and right in the state it used to be.

my point: If my chiropractor had just once sent me a reminder or phone call saying it is a good idea for a "tune up" - I may not be in the pain I am now. Do you know easy it would be for them to automate a greeting card to go out once a month to their clients? I use sendout cards and it is wonderful for automated followup.

Total cost for them ~ $12 a year for 12 cards. All automated once my name is in the system. The money they lost by not having this done?

2 times a week X $40 = $80 a week X 24 weeks (6 months since I've gone) = $1,920!

By not thinking about this - nor making an effort to do it - they lost almost $2,000! From a simple $12 investment.

This is top of mind because the pain is constantly there for me now.

But how many businesses are missing out on this exact same opportunity?

Yours? Mine?

There is ALWAYS ways to automate the follow up - now is the time to start thinking about it. I know I am.

First, Troy, I wanted to say how much I enjoy your column. I work with small businesses in the alternative health field, so I am in the same playing field.

Regarding this thread, a tactic I learned from Dan Kennedy was not only to sell them more items, but to introduce more high-ticket items.

For example... with the clinic I'm working with we are looking at getting a massage chair in the waiting room. That way patients can try it out while waiting. Even if just five patients a year decide to order one through us, that's over $5,000 extra dollars, obtained almost effortlessly.

Otherwise, it can get frustrating trying to make money when the average transaction (in supplements) is between $20-$50, with a 40% profit margin.

John

Thanks John for the kinds words. You also just gave me an idea. The massage chair is a perfect idea for an anti-aging clinic who has just taken me on. Great idea I will run by them.

To add to this - if they only had a monthly 4 page print newsletter showcasing numerous related products and services available to them - they will do real well - something I am forcing on my anti-agers.

Think about how much you personally enjoy looking through a catalog with lots of products that are of interest to you! I can spend an hour or two looking through these - and I'm sure others are no different - no matter WHAT industry they are in.

Troy

Hi from Italy
to everyone and to Mr Troy White particularly!
I own a mattresses retail store and I come across everyday in someone that asks me for mattresses prices over the phone.
I know there are 2 methods here: tell the prices or not.

First qualify the customer, then tell them the prices, because if you don't do this that customer will never enter your store (example: customer who lives miles away from your store...). I think this is correct, but only to give a price ranges between various brands (ex.: how much does it costs a latex mattress?), not to give out the price of a specific brand and model. What I mean is in this ex.: Tempur-pedic in Italy is a major brand, they do advertising on magazine and tv where they give a toll-free number where you can ask to receive a free brochure at home with the name of the closest dealer. But in the brochure they don't give out the prices. So here's the most frequent scenario:

-"Hi, I've received the tempur-pedic brochure, it's very interesting, I'd like to know the price of a Celebration Tempur-pedic king size."
Since Tempur-pedic is one of the most expensive brand, even if not the highest one, and they don't allow discounts on the fixed price-list. If I say the price the customer surely think in his mind "What? 2,200 euros for a king size mattress? You're crazy", then he say to me "Ok, I'll think over it, bye."
So, at 99% I've lost a customer for life, because he didn't give me the time to explain that we've many other brands, similar to Tempur-pedic but less expensive, or that the tempur-pedic is tax-deductible, or that we've a zero interest financial plan.

I want to try to not say the prices and say instead:

-"Our company's police doesn't allow us to give prices over the phone: if it's not easy for you to come in our store, to first try this particular mattress, we can mail or email the price-list to you, together with our zero interest payment plan, the tax-deductible option, our bonuses and even alternative-options to Tempur-pedic". This way I've the chance to say everything I want to convince the customer to come into my store.

What do you think about it? Please help me with your suggestions!

Marco

Ciao Marco!

Sono John. Ho abitato in italia per due anni nel 2001 nel Firenze. Ma.. no parlo spesso, questi giorn!

Communque...

This is a common problem for any business that receives customers via phone or in person. People often want to get right to the price.

If you just give them the price, all they see is what they are losing.

But they don't want to hear a sales pitch... they are often afraid of you landing a benefit-bomb on them.

Best way I know... works great... is to realize you are talking one-on-one. This isn't sales copy. This is a REAL CONVERSATION.

Best thing to do is get them to sell themselves....

Ask them questions!

Show empathy.

Find out what their situation is. Why they want this. What other options they are looking at.

Basically, get them talking. Find out what their problem is. This usually leads to other questions. Bring them back to qualifying exactly what they want... and then what it'll mean to them. Find out why they really want the mattress. Most of the time they don't know consciously. If they you help make them conscious, you're going to make a sale automatically.

It takes practice, and some training. I've spent well over $3,000 learning what I know now, and I can tell I used to be awful at it. Now I close 75% of phone prospects I come in contact with, for various businesses.

Sta bene!

John

__________________
John C. A. Manley
www.RealityCopywriting.com