Your “Fairway”to Heaven - Paramus Chamber of Commerce

JUPITERIMAGES
By: Samy Elashmawy
With today’s recessionary downturn of
financial markets, record numbers of
small businesses are not only struggling
to increase sales, but working tirelessly
to keep afloat by turning to traditional
advertising.
However, in earnest attempts to turn a
profit, the most common mistake by
small business owners is putting all
your resources into only the first of
three ways to grow your business —
putting your effort, money and resources
into attracting new customers –
almost always forgetting two additional
methods for growth.
Method two. Increase the average sale
ticket sold to every customer. McDonalds
is a classic example of how this is
done. Every counter representative is
trained to ask you “would you like fries
with your order?” or “would you like to
super size?”
The goal here is to have you buy something
extra and to increase the average
sale ticket price. They have already paid
to get you in the door (advertising) and
each additional dollar added to your
Lean Marketing
for Small Business
How to do more with less and increase sales in as little as 30 to 90 days
order has a minimal cost of ingredients
and labor. No extra expensive acquisition
cost.
GoDaddy.com is another great example
of increasing your sales. Having spoken
with technical support a time or two,
I’ve experienced GoDaddy.com’s marketing
efforts first hand. Once my issue
is solved, my representative will always
notify me of a special discount on another
service in their product line. Man,
are these guys smart. This organization
has cross-trained their technical staff to
sell. And what a better time? Your
problem is fixed, you’re ecstatic you’re
one step closer to a relaxing night with
American Idol and they sweep in with
an offer of a “non-advertised special.”
GoDaddy.com is taking what is normally
thought of as a liability and capitalizing
on the opportunity to speak
with customers to turn your problem
into their sale.
Method Three. Extend the lifetime
value of your customer. Never look at a
customer transaction as a one-time
event. Your goal should be to increase
the number of visits of your customer.
This is where your Customer/Client list
is critical. Studies show that it is up to
seven times more expensive to market
to a new customer versus marketing to
your own in-house customer list. When
I was in the women’s clothing business,
the first thing done once we had a new
shipment scheduled to arrive was to divide
up our client book and make calls
to past customers informing them of
our new collection. Remind your client
the day before a new shipment or the
month of a contract anniversary, the
more connected you are the more appreciated
your client will feel. And isn’t
a happy customer a return customer?
It’s just that simple. So while most
business owners are focusing on the
most expensive aspect of finding and
acquiring new customers, I encourage
you to focus and work with your current
customers for maximum gain and
minimal cost.
Samy Elashmawy is the creator of
the GUTS Sales System in Englewood.
If you would like to learn
more about how to grow your small
business in a down economy feel
free to call me at 201-467-4929.
WWW.PARAMUSCHAMBER.COM SPRING 2009Paramus! MAGAZINE 27