3 Tips to Increase Profitability at Your Small Business
It goes without saying that you’d like to increase profitability at your small business, right? Here are three tips you can implement right away to start selling more efficiently.
1. Educate Employees: Selling a More Expensive Item Does Not Always Equate to More Profit
It can be easy to assume that selling more expensive items in the store will equate to more profit, but that is not always the case. Educate your employees on which products (or services) are the most profitable.
When you educate your employees on the proper selling strategy they can make the best recommendations based on the customer’s needs and your company’s best interests.
2. Use Promotions to Make Slow Days/Times More Profitable
Don’t concede defeat to the “dead hours” in your store or restaurant. Instead use time sensitive promotions to drive customers into your location during the slower hours.
Try sending an email or posting to your Facebook Page during the quieter times encouraging customers to come in for a special offer that expires quickly. You may break-even on the special offer, but have a plan to up-sell customers once they arrive.
3. Understand that Many Shoppers Buy on a Budget & Sell Accordingly
There’s nothing worse than walking into a store or restaurant and being pressured into buying something you cannot afford because of an uncomfortably hard sell.
Make sure your employees understand that pressuring a customer into buying something he or she appears to not want leads to a poor overall shopping experience. When a customer has a poor shopping experience he or she is less likely to return and more likely to complain about the experience to friends.
You don’t want to compromise additional future sales and bad word-of-mouth marketing for a one time up-sell. It’s just not worth it.
Train your employees to read the body language and tone of voice of customers so that they know when to back off. In the end you must respect your employees to build a long-lasting relationship.