I hardly ever watch television, but I recently watched a show called "The Turnaround King" and it grabbed my attention. The show focuses on providing help to businesses to come out of a slump and thrive.
In a specific segment of the broadcast, there was a fitness center that was losing revenue, and was almost to the point where it was going to close its doors unless something changed, and fast! So the expert consultant came up with a plan for the fitness center to put into practice immediately.
Here's what they developed. To get as many individuals as they could to come into the facility for a tour, they developed a direct mail campaign using post cards that were sent to every individual residing within a 20-mile radius of the fitness center.
They included a 7-day free trial membership for those individuals who could make a basket in their gym within 2 shots. They also increased their prices on memberships and required a longer-term commitment. They basically made all of their staff into sales people. And finally, they began selling t-shirts and other items to all the new members as part of the sign-up process.
And what was the outcome? The fitness center increased its sales by over thirty percent within 2 months! That's amazing.
Let's breakdown the lessons that can be learned from that example.
Lesson #1 - The Secret To Increasing Sales (Traffic + Conversion)
For any business, the secret formula to increasing sales is:
Traffic + Conversion = Sales
Meaning, you have to get traffic, i.e., people, coming to your store or visiting your web site. In the Turnaround King example, they accomplished this by mailing out the post cards to everyone living within a 20-mile radius of the fitness center.
Some other ways you can increase traffic for your business is by running pay per click advertisements, networking in your community, participating in forums and blogs, taking advantage of the giant marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, etc.
In fact, there are dozens, if not hundreds of different ways to increase the traffic that comes to your site and/or store. We cover them in more detail in our BizMarketing product (and more comprehensive BizFast Product).
In addition to traffic, you also need to get more of those visitors to buy from you. The Turnaround King did this by adding the trial membership, raising the membership prices, and adding more sales people.
There are several other ways you can increase your conversions too. You can improve your sales pitch so that it resonates better with your ideal customer and makes them want to buy from you. You can add bonuses or incentives to make your offer irresistible. You can also add a stronger money back guarantee.
But here is the critical point: If you improve both your traffic and conversion numbers, then you WILL have an increase in sales. It is a mathematical fact.
In fact, many businesses can do just one or the other and see a significant increase in sales. For example, if you already have a high closing/conversion ratio, then simply getting more visitors to your site and/or store will increase your sales dramatically.
Or, if you already have tons of visitors, but aren't making a lot of sales, you can simply increase the amount of closes/conversions that you get so that you make more money from the visitors you already have.
But if you really want to super-charge your sales, increase both the traffic and conversion numbers. And you WILL see an increase in sales - guaranteed. Again, it's a mathematical certainty.
Lesson #2 - Increase the Value of Each Customer
The other key ingredient to increasing your overall company revenue is to increase the lifetime value of each customer. In other words, you want to generate as much revenue as possible from each and every customer.
In the Turnaround King example, they did this by adding long-term contracts, so that they would keep each customer longer. They also offered t-shirts and other items that were sold to new members when they joined the club, and that existing members could also purchase.
Whether you have a physical store or an online business, there are numerous ways that you can increase the lifetime value of each customer.
Here are just a few examples:
- Offer related items to customers when they are making their initial purchase (upsells and downsells)
- Put a related offer at the bottom of each customer receipt
- Send promotions to your existing customers, such as discount coupons or other offers for related or additional products that you offer
You can also increase the value of each customer by either increasing your prices, or reducing your costs for selling the item to that customer.
We cover dozens of ways that you can increase the value of each customer and grow your sales in our Business Profit Explosion Report that comes as a bonus to our BizMarketing and BizFast programs.
Lesson #3 - Always Look For Opportunities To Improve Your Processes
You should always be looking for ways to improve your company processes to make it easier for customers to buy from you, and to help increase your sales.
In the Turnaround King example, they trained each staff member on how to handle at least certain parts of the new memberships. Before, there were only a few people who could handle memberships, and prospective members were forced to wait a long time for a membership advisor, and many left because they didn't want to wait.
There is always something you can do to make each employee capable of moving the sale along, even if it isn't his or her job.
Lesson #4 - Combine These Strategies Together For Maximum Results
Take a moment to analyze your business and brainstorm on several ways that you can increase the amount of traffic that you receive. What advertising channels can you add to get more exposure?
Then, analyze your current sales process and identify several ways that you can make your closes/conversions higher so that you get more sales from those people who consider your offerings. Can you add some bonuses to make your offer more compelling? What about a better guarantee?
Next, analyze some ways that you can increase the value of each customer that you have. What related items can you offer them? How can you increase the amount of profit that you generate from each encounter?
If you take the time to go through this process and actually implement those changes, you will be amazed at the improvements you will see in your business. And any time you feel unhappy with your sales, re-visit this process and start all over again.
In a specific segment of the broadcast, there was a fitness center that was losing revenue, and was almost to the point where it was going to close its doors unless something changed, and fast! So the expert consultant came up with a plan for the fitness center to put into practice immediately.
Here's what they developed. To get as many individuals as they could to come into the facility for a tour, they developed a direct mail campaign using post cards that were sent to every individual residing within a 20-mile radius of the fitness center.
They included a 7-day free trial membership for those individuals who could make a basket in their gym within 2 shots. They also increased their prices on memberships and required a longer-term commitment. They basically made all of their staff into sales people. And finally, they began selling t-shirts and other items to all the new members as part of the sign-up process.
And what was the outcome? The fitness center increased its sales by over thirty percent within 2 months! That's amazing.
Let's breakdown the lessons that can be learned from that example.
Lesson #1 - The Secret To Increasing Sales (Traffic + Conversion)
For any business, the secret formula to increasing sales is:
Traffic + Conversion = Sales
Meaning, you have to get traffic, i.e., people, coming to your store or visiting your web site. In the Turnaround King example, they accomplished this by mailing out the post cards to everyone living within a 20-mile radius of the fitness center.
Some other ways you can increase traffic for your business is by running pay per click advertisements, networking in your community, participating in forums and blogs, taking advantage of the giant marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, etc.
In fact, there are dozens, if not hundreds of different ways to increase the traffic that comes to your site and/or store. We cover them in more detail in our BizMarketing product (and more comprehensive BizFast Product).
In addition to traffic, you also need to get more of those visitors to buy from you. The Turnaround King did this by adding the trial membership, raising the membership prices, and adding more sales people.
There are several other ways you can increase your conversions too. You can improve your sales pitch so that it resonates better with your ideal customer and makes them want to buy from you. You can add bonuses or incentives to make your offer irresistible. You can also add a stronger money back guarantee.
But here is the critical point: If you improve both your traffic and conversion numbers, then you WILL have an increase in sales. It is a mathematical fact.
In fact, many businesses can do just one or the other and see a significant increase in sales. For example, if you already have a high closing/conversion ratio, then simply getting more visitors to your site and/or store will increase your sales dramatically.
Or, if you already have tons of visitors, but aren't making a lot of sales, you can simply increase the amount of closes/conversions that you get so that you make more money from the visitors you already have.
But if you really want to super-charge your sales, increase both the traffic and conversion numbers. And you WILL see an increase in sales - guaranteed. Again, it's a mathematical certainty.
Lesson #2 - Increase the Value of Each Customer
The other key ingredient to increasing your overall company revenue is to increase the lifetime value of each customer. In other words, you want to generate as much revenue as possible from each and every customer.
In the Turnaround King example, they did this by adding long-term contracts, so that they would keep each customer longer. They also offered t-shirts and other items that were sold to new members when they joined the club, and that existing members could also purchase.
Whether you have a physical store or an online business, there are numerous ways that you can increase the lifetime value of each customer.
Here are just a few examples:
- Offer related items to customers when they are making their initial purchase (upsells and downsells)
- Put a related offer at the bottom of each customer receipt
- Send promotions to your existing customers, such as discount coupons or other offers for related or additional products that you offer
You can also increase the value of each customer by either increasing your prices, or reducing your costs for selling the item to that customer.
We cover dozens of ways that you can increase the value of each customer and grow your sales in our Business Profit Explosion Report that comes as a bonus to our BizMarketing and BizFast programs.
Lesson #3 - Always Look For Opportunities To Improve Your Processes
You should always be looking for ways to improve your company processes to make it easier for customers to buy from you, and to help increase your sales.
In the Turnaround King example, they trained each staff member on how to handle at least certain parts of the new memberships. Before, there were only a few people who could handle memberships, and prospective members were forced to wait a long time for a membership advisor, and many left because they didn't want to wait.
There is always something you can do to make each employee capable of moving the sale along, even if it isn't his or her job.
Lesson #4 - Combine These Strategies Together For Maximum Results
Take a moment to analyze your business and brainstorm on several ways that you can increase the amount of traffic that you receive. What advertising channels can you add to get more exposure?
Then, analyze your current sales process and identify several ways that you can make your closes/conversions higher so that you get more sales from those people who consider your offerings. Can you add some bonuses to make your offer more compelling? What about a better guarantee?
Next, analyze some ways that you can increase the value of each customer that you have. What related items can you offer them? How can you increase the amount of profit that you generate from each encounter?
If you take the time to go through this process and actually implement those changes, you will be amazed at the improvements you will see in your business. And any time you feel unhappy with your sales, re-visit this process and start all over again.
About the Author:
To learn more about business growth and marketing, download my free "Business Thrival Blueprint". BusinessThrival.com is a site dedicated to helping business owners achieve a thriving business and life.
No comments:
Post a Comment