Business owners are constantly seeking ways to increase sales and gain new and repeat customers. You have a quality product or service that you have worked hard to create. How do you get customers to “walk in the door”? Better yet, how can you convince them that you do indeed have what they are looking for? Most sales come from those customers who are ready to buy today, but is it possible to build that connection with a customer that has “walked out the door” because they were not quite ready to buy? Is there an easy way to remain in communication with a potential customer until they are ready for that purchase?
As customers, we are constantly seeking a good deal, a freebie, a perk. We want to feel as if we have been treated to something. It is our nature to want a discount or something for free. Sometimes it is this “good deal” feeling that inspires us to go ahead with a purchase or to come back and make a purchase at a later time. How can businesses satisfy this need and give the customer their “great deal” while still practicing good business and making a profit?
A wise business owner will not only satisfy with an offer that is of value to the customer, but will use this offer as an exchange of information.
An offer can consist of a free good or service or a discount on a good or service. The customer simply fills out a form either in store or online with their contact information in exchange for the free or discounted item or service. The contact information should at least include the customer’s name and email address. The business owner can then use this contact information to market to the new or existing customer through an automated system that will provide special offers, sales, discounts, and events that create interest in order to gain a new customer or to bring an existing customer back for another sale.
An offer is an important and effective part of a four step strategy to marketing.
The exchange of information provides the customer with something that is valuable to them while providing the business owner valuable contact information. This begins the exchange and places customers into a marketing funnel by which businesses court a customer until they make the decision to purchase. Marketing to these customers who may not have been ready to make a purchase on the date of the exchange provides businesses with an opportunity to gain a client when they are ready to make a purchase. This opens an opportunity for future sales.
To Recap:
- Offer potential and current customers a free or discounted good or service that is of value to them in exchange for their contact information.
- Ask customers for valuable contact information in exchange for an offer.
- Place future and existing customers into a marketing funnel where you court them with information, special offers, sales, discounts, and events that create interest until they are ready to make a purchase.
Don’t “close the door” on potential sales. A simple exchange of information can offer the business owner many opportunities to gain new or returning customers. Offers increase future sales and grow businesses!