How do you plan to gain new customers in 2023? Doing a promotion is an easy way to get attention and start filling up your books. Everyone loves to save a few bucks when they can.
There are three major points to hit when planning a sale: getting the most significant benefit you can, planning the details, and advertising your sale.
Get to Give
Optimizing your sale or promotion can be done in a number of ways, and you should always pick the option that fits your business best. Don’t be afraid to get creative sometimes. While there are many options, asking for reviews, sign-ups for recurring payments, and scheduling off-season jobs are easy and effective routes.
Reviews
Word-of-mouth is one of the most effective ways to grow your business. The opinion of the public holds an immense amount of power so take advantage. Ask customers to leave reviews for your business, and they receive a discount in return. In a survey of 1,000 people, 55% hear about a product or service through word of mouth; 40% made a purchase after a recommendation was made; and 28% preferred word-of-mouth recommendations when researching a product or service (RRD). This method leaves you with a full book of returning customers and new ones as well.
Continued Jobs
Another way to maximize your sales is to encourage customers to sign up for recurring services by offering a discount. By offering a discount on their next service when they commit to regular maintenance, you not only encourage repeat business but also simplify your marketing efforts. Once you have secured a loyal customer base, it’s up to you to maintain their satisfaction by providing top-notch service that speaks for itself.
Off Season Work
Finally, you can use a promotion to kickstart your off-season work. Offer your discount when a customer prebooks for their fall or winter services. Nothing feels better than knowing you’ll have jobs scheduled when jobs start getting sparse. Using this method can take away stress for you and your employees.
Work Through the Details
Now that you know what kind of promotion you want to do, you need to think about the length of the sale and how much you want to discount.
Length of Promotion
You want your sale to run long enough that customers can take an interest but short enough that they feel like they have to make a relatively quick decision. Spend some time advertising before the sale starts to create awareness and interest; this way, customers can anticipate your sale. The sweet spot for a sale is between three and seven days. You can make your sale run through just the weekend at first, and according to the outcome, you can lengthen it in the future. The main goal is to keep your sale short enough that customers feel a sense of urgency to make a decision.
How Much to Discount
How much you want to discount is entirely up to you; however, there are some aspects to consider. How much can you discount without impacting your profits too much? How much is enough that customers will care? All of this depends on what you are discounting. If you regularly charge $50 for a mow, $5-10 may be enough. To decide how much you should be discounting, you need to know how much you need from each sale to cover the job and how much you need to profit.
Advertise Your Sale
The last step is to raise awareness. Fill your customers in on when and how much the sale is. Employees can start telling customers about the sale during their jobs and leaving info sheets inside doors. Post on social media a few times the week before and send out an email blast to your customers. However best you communicate to your current customers is best, but posting on social media and leaving info sheets will allow you to expand your reach and bring in more customers organically.
When planning a sale, make sure your business gets the most benefit it can. Asking your customers for something in return for a discount can skyrocket awareness for your business. Reviews and consistent jobs make sure that your business brings in more profit and improves your image, so make sure to optimize your results!
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