SuperSize Your Sales!

June 2nd, 2008

If you want to build loyalty is it more important to increase purchase frequency or purchase volume? In their book, “Meaningful Marketing”, researchers Doug Hall and Jeffrey Stamp concluded that focusing on purchase volume is 3.9 times more effective when trying to build annual loyalty.

Why? Loyalty is not static. Your competitors are always out there, trying to make even your best customers try something new. The research shows that it is best to strike when the iron is hot! When the customer is in a buying mode, help them buy. You may not get another chance later. Hall and Stamp recommend that business owners follow the lead of McDonalds, and think about super sizing the offer.

Give your customers a reason to buy more!

When your customer is ready to buy, give them incentives to purchase more. Long term contracts or larger packages offer you more profit, so pass along some of the savings to customers. Offer incentives, such as discounts on multiunit purchases, to encourage them to buy more now.

Do you want fries with that?

Every time you walk into a McDonalds, and order a hamburger, the person behind the counter asks, “Do you want fries with that?” By simply training their employees to ask the question, McDonalds increased their sales dramatically.

The same technique can grow sales for your business. Do you routinely offer accessories and extra services with every sale? Are these options clearly listed on every proposal with the benefits spelled out for your consumer? If not, it is time to revise your proposal. The research shows that if you don’t mention it up front, you may not get a second chance.

The Meal Deal

McDonalds discovered most customers wanted a drink, fries and sandwich. As a result, they developed a pricing structure that was so attractively that almost everyone buys a “# 1, 2 or 3.

This concept can work for you as well. Bundle accessories and service contracts into the purchase price as standard. Discount the your package only slightly when you leave out an accessory and most consumers will buy the whole package.

Offer “Free Stuff” This bundled approach allows you to offer an extra service ( which costs you very little) “free” with complete system sale.
This bundled approach will help you set yourself apart in the market place as well.

Don’t’ stop with the Meal - Offer a Complete Package

Another tactic is to view your product from the customer’s perspective. What will they need to maximize the use or enjoyment of your product or service? If you offer these related products, either directly or through a strategic partner, your customer has fewer reasons to go elsewhere.

What types of services should you offer? If you sell a product to new homes, consider offering a $25 coupon for a landscape company or nursery with every system you sell. Or maybe a gift certificate for carpet cleaning, or floor refinishing. Your customers will appreciate the little extras.

These extra services don’t have to be an expense item for you. Many companies pay referral bonuses. Talk to service provides about giving you the coupons for free instead of the referral bonus. And, if you are smart, you will give them coupons for your services as well.

These are just some examples of ways to grow you your business by building customer loyalty. For other ideas, simply observe successful companies in industries very different from HVAC, and you may learn other ways to Supersize your business.

Lorraine Ball helps business owners find a starting point for growth and change. http://www.roundpeg.biz or call 317-908-0262

Guaranteed Personal Loans

June 2nd, 2008

Guaranteed personal loans can be used for a number of things from vacations to a new home entertainment system. Guaranteed online personal loans can be used to pay off high interest credit cards. Many credit card companies will raise the interest fee drastically even if you miss or are late on one payment. Guaranteed personal loans might even be used to start a small business. This would be a great investment if you have an entrepreneurial spirit. On your fist Guaranteed online personal loans, the limit may be much lower than on your subsequent ones. Once you prove that you will pay guaranteed personal loans back on time, you will most likely qualify for a higher amount the next time.

Guaranteed online personal loans will provide you the convenience of applying for funds online without having to leave your home. There are certain requirements that you will have to meet to be considered for guaranteed personal loans. Most lenders require you to have a certain income level per month as well as have a relatively high credit rating. Others may require you to have been at your current employer for a certain length of time and will require documentation of this plus documentation of your rate of pay. Guaranteed online personal loans may come with a limit on the amount of money you can borrower and this may be affected by your credit score.

Guaranteed personal loans can also fill the gaps that come between paydays or if you have the unfortunate luck of being out of work for a while. Guaranteed online personal loans are offered by most Internet lenders as well as lenders in your local area. Guaranteed personal loans can be deposited directly in to your bank account or mailed to you by check. You can also have your repayments debited from your bank account for convenience. Be sure to make your payments on time or you might incur additional fees. Guaranteed online personal loans normally have lower interest rates than credit cards do.

Guaranteed online personal loans are something you could not have obtained a few decades ago. The Internet has brought so many options to United States consumers and those abroad. You can do so many things in a matter of minutes that would have previously taken you much more time and effort to accomplish. Guaranteed personal loans are just one of the few things you can use the Internet for. It is amazing at how we have been blessed by technology. “Now therefore listen to me, O you children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.” (Proverbs 8:32)

For more information about guaranteed personal loans, visit:
http://blogs.christianet.com