Survive and Thrive Workshop Series

1
Survive and Thrive Workshop Series

• Session 4
• How Can I Increase My Sales?
• 12 March 2009

2
Workshop Series Hosts

• South Dakota Small Business Development Centers
  (SD SBDC)
• US Small Business Administration (SBA)
• University of South Dakota
• Regional Planning Districts other Economic
  Development entities

3
Workshop Series Dates

• Where do I stand financially? (26 Feb)
• How can I better manage my expenses? (5 March)
• How can I increase my sales? (12 March)
• How do I manage and improve my cash flow? (19
  March)
• Should I have a succession plan in place? (26
  March)

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Ready Talk Seminar

• For those at host locations, please sign in for
  those on individual lines, you have already
  registered with the SBA
• Please note any questions that you may wish to
  ask. These will be collected at the host
  locations, sent via Ready Talk Chat or can be
  sent directly to jean.rogers_at_sba.gov

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Workshop Goals

• Improve the viability of your business during
  this time of economic uncertainty by providing
  you insight as to your current position and
  empowering you to make financial and management
  decisions to increase the likelihood of survival

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HOW CAN I INCREASE MY SALES?
7
Marketing (a definition)

• Marketing is the process of planning, executing
  the development, pricing, promotion and
  distribution of products and services to satisfy
  customer needs.

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MarketingThe 4 Ps

• Product
• Price
• Promotion
• Place

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WHO ARE THE CUSTOMERS?
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Market Research

• Use the internet
• Develop simple customer surveys
• Review maps
• Use trade association/Chamber of Commerce
• Review US Census or Labor Dept data and
  publications
• Learn from competitors

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FOCUS ON THE CUSTOMERS
12
GROWTH CUSTOMER

• By definition, a growth customer is one who
  contributes to the expansion objectives of the
  company.

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WHO ARE GROWTH CUSTOMERS?

• Base/existing customers
• New customers
• Customers who, through their own progress have
  become larger customers of the company
• Highly profitable customers
• Influential customers who will bring other
  customers with them.

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CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGIES

• Invest in the relationship
• Increase trust
• Expand product line
• Cross selling
• Marketing partnerships
• Foster customer loyalty
• Barriers to competition
• Improve communication

15
RECAP RETENTION ACTIVITIES

• Understand important factors to keep customers
• Develop good customer database
• Implement communication strategies specifically
  based on customer retention
• Develop a win/win mindset with customers and
  deeply appreciate them
• Develop and implement a focused approach to
  retain and grow current customers

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REACTIVEATION STRATEGIES

• Have a great list of previous customers
• Develop a communications strategy to re-connect
  to them
• Tell them you want them back
• Understand why they stopped buying
• Make it right if it was wrong
• Remind them about your business

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NEW CUSTOMER ACQUISITION STRATEGIES

• Study what was successful for you in the past
• Develop a detailed, ideal customer profile
• Test new strategies as an experiment
• Develop a specific customer target list
• Look for best practices regarding new customer
  acquisition
• Investigate industry specific marketing programs

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WHO ARE YOU GOING TO SELL TO?
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SegmentationB2B (Business to Business)
B2C (Business to Customer)

• Demographics
• Age
• Gender
• Race/ethnicity
• Income
• Home Ownership
• Psychographics
• Personality
• Attitudes
• Lifestyles
• Social Tendencies
• Fashion/music tastes
• Shopping preferences
• Hobbies
• Geography

• Industry (SIC/NAICS code)
• Geography/Location
• Size Revenue levels
• Size Employee count
• Length of time in business
• Business function or department
• Distribution strategies
• Management practices

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Two Types of Motivation

• To move TOWARD something
• To move AWAY from something

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Ways to Reduce Customer Fears

• Money back/satisfaction guarantees
• Favorable, convenient return policies
• Warranties
• Quality statements/standards
• Sampling programs/free trials
• Testimonials
• Customer forums
• Make contact information very visible

22
HOW IS YOUR BUSINESS REALLY DOING?

• Same Store Sales Beat Yesterday Book
• Sales per square foot
• Total Net Sales / Sq ft of Selling Space Sales
  per Sq Ft of
• 
  Selling Space
• Sales per transaction
• Gross Sales / Number of Transactions Sales per
  Transaction
• Other Measurements
• Sales per Linear Foot of Shelf Space
• Sales by Department or Category Code
• Sales per Employee

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A WORD ON DISCOUNTING
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DISCOUNT OR NO DISCOUNT?
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SIX WAYS TO INCREASE SALES
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Six Ways to Increase Sales

• Set up a sales incentive program
• Encourage your sales staff to up-sell
• Give your customers the Inside Scoop
• Tier your customers
• Set up a Customer Rewards Program
• Distribute free samples to customers

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MORE ways to increase sales

• Use value-added strategies
• Focus on back-end sales
• Be proactive about referrals
• Know your competition
• Communication (AIDA method )
  Awareness/Interest/Desire/Action
• Post-purchase follow-up

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Quick Tips / Checklist

• Identify exactly who you are going to sell to
• Find multiple ways to segment your customers into
  more specific groups
• Segment your customer base into existing,
  previous and new
• Get serious about customer retention
• Develop a customer database keep it up
• Develop approaches to reduce customer fears
• Make focus on growth an organizational priority
  not just owner/manager

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Your Business Revenue Growth Goals Worksheet
(available for download)

• List the 3 most important things you hope to
  accomplish in each of the following time periods
  regarding your revenues (90 days this year 3
  years).
• What are the 5 most significant revenue
  opportunities that face your company?
• What are the 5 most significant roadblocks to
  your sales success?
• List 5 key ways you and your team will have to
  evolve over the next year to position your
  business to grow with your customer base.

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Checklist Summary

• Also available for download
• Beat Yesterday Book
• 50 Marketing Ideas for Retailers
• Common Types of Customer Messages
• Words That Connect With the Customer
• Methods for Message Delivery/Media Options

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Future Workshop Topics

• After each session, participants will be provided
  an opportunity for feedback through surveys.
  Based on survey results, future workshops may be
  developed to delve into greater detail in
  specific areas (i.e. factoring, Government
  Procurement, etc).

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We Want Your Feedback!

• Please provide your feedback in the survey at
  your host site, or which will be sent to the
  email address that you provided. This will allow
  us to tailor upcoming events to best suit your
  needs!

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How Do I Manage and Improve My Cash Flow?
Next Session

• (understanding my cash flow statements)
• Session 5
• 19 March 2009
• Contact Jean Rogers to register
• [phone] ext 0
• jean.rogers_at_sba.gov

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Resources Available

• For a copy of this slideshow
• www.sba.gov/sd
• For additional training and education, visit the
  SBA Resource Library
• www.sba.gov/tools/resourcelibrary/index.html
• (features Podcasts, Publications and Research)