Promotions Advice For Business

Advice for your business – Promotions

Most businesses are affected by seasonal sales changes but there is a way to increase sales during quiet periods. When business is slow depends on the industry you are in. The typical busy periods for retail business are Valentines Day, Easter, Back to School, Halloween and of course Christmas. The “Sales” then kick in after Christmas and during the summer to encourage increased revenue in quiet periods.

How Do I Combat Slow Sales?
You can take two approaches to increasing your sales, the short term or the long term approach. It’s always best to take both as a short term sales increase while great won’t alleviate your problem in the future. A long term solution would be to make a detailed business plan outlining strategies for increasing sales and market share. A short term solution would be to run a promotion.

Should I Reduce My Selling Price?
Recently I had a consultation with a client whose sales were slow. He wanted to drop the price. I advised him to run a promotion for two months. He agreed and informed his target market. During this period his sales quadrupled as his customers wanted to get a deal. If he had reduced the price there would not have been a call to action for the customers to buy. His sales would still be at a lull.

Plan Your Promotion
Think carefully about what you want to promote, in what way and when. Here are some pointers;
1. Promote a product that will be attractive to the customer – a saving of €2 or a free pen might not entice someone to buy!
2. Make sure you are getting a viable profit – be aware of your margins before you decide on a promotion price
3. Check you have enough stock – don’t run out of stock just when things are starting to work
4. Know your customer – will a saving of money, a percentage saving or a free gift entice your customer to purchase now?
5. Know your seasonal fluctuations – In planning your promotion make sure you know when your sales lull is in advance. In this way you can be ready for it!
6. Communicate your promotion – make sure you advertise your promotion well through mail outs, advertising, PR, in-store point of sale etc. A promotion is no good if your customers are unaware it’s happening.
7. Note Sales Increases – Take note of any increases in sales during your promotion so that you can refer back to it for the next lull period!

If you would like to talk more about promotions, contact Ace Marketing at www.acemarketing.ie or call 058 48826. Your first consultation is FREE provided you work with Ace within one month of the consultation.