Five Easy Marketing Steps to Higher Sales

Step #3: Promote the right offer.

There is a saying that I learned from a former boss who told me regarding the management of staff, “You usually end up with the behavior that you reward.” How true I have found this to be! If your company sells its services by reducing its pricing upfront or discounts when a customer complains that the price is too high, that practice will not build a quality brand in your market. The offer has to be in service to the overall brand strategy and, if a discount is offered, it should be on a “one-time only basis” couched in an introductory offer—once again, to retain the integrity of your brand’s equity.

Step #4: Set the right price.

Do you know the true cost of making a one-time sale? Often, companies consider their manufacturing costs, but fail to build in the prospect-to-customer-to-engineering costs of servicing the business once it’s closed. There can easily be two times the job cost in providing this support, depending on how much is required to get a client up and running.

In many businesses, it is common to lose money for the first six months as you setup a new customer. So the question becomes, “Have you factored these costs into your long-term pricing strategy?”

Step #5: Build incentives into your program to reward repeat users.

The most profitable business is highly retentive business. The less time you have to spend selling a customer, the more time you will have to serve your customer. Customers with repeat business should be rewarded in tangible ways to affirm their importance to your company and to encourage their continuing relationship with you. Reward programs, loyalty programs, special club offerings, etc. all go a long way in building a strong and healthy relationship.

With these five steps you are well on your way to building a successful strategic market plan that will serve your company for years and years. Simply cutting your company’s budget, although a quick fix, will not solve the problem of too few sales. When this short-term strategy is used, it often produces extremely negative impacts within a company that further deepens the company’s negative sales.