Stimulating Sales

Sale Bijenkorf

Image by Gerard Stolk (vers l’Avent)
Sale Bijenkorf

What is it that gives business life and vitality?  Yes, sales.  Without sales, our businesses will dry up and die.  On the other hand, a healthy growth in sales means an increase in profits.  Yeah, we business owners spend a lot of time watching for signs of growth, and plotting to make it happen.  Here are 5 sure-fire ways to get customers to shell out the bucks before they leave your place of business.

1.  Tantalize Their Emotions
When was the last time you bought a candy bar?  Exactly what is it about chocolate that makes us waste perfectly good money on something that lasts less than five minutes?  Yep, it’s the feeling of satisfaction we feel after we’ve eaten the sweet morsels.  

Everything consumers purchase is for one purpose… to satisfy some emotional feeling they are looking for.  Don’t believe it?  Why do we buy cars?  …security, to show off, personal satisfaction?  Sure, we all want to look good and know that we’ll be able to get where we’re going safely.

Take advantage of the emotional pull purchases have on your customers, and dramatize.  Paint word pictures that will enhance to pleasant feelings that come with the purchase you are trying to get them to make.  

2.  Scare The Heck Out of Them
What are your customers going to lose if they don’t buy your product?  No, we don’t always have to stick with the pretty pictures that leave us all warm and fuzzy.  Fear is as effective of a  motivor as pleasure… sometimes greater.

Do you have fire alarms installed in your house?  A dramatic mental picture of waking up in the night and not being able to rescue you child isn’t at all pretty, but will be much more likely to motivate you to invest in a fire alarm system than any pretty picture ever would.

Don’t hesitate to use a little negative influence if your product calls for it.  Many people fear what they could lose more than they get excited about what they could gain.

3.

 Keep Buying A Simple “Yes” or “No” Choice
Are you planning a special sale?  Take care to promote only one of each type of product at a time.  Decisions can make the buying process more complicated and cost you sales.  Yeah, the buyer who can’t make up his mind often leaves without taking anything with him… that’s money out of your pocket!

Do you have several related items you want to offer?  Combine them into one package and watch your profit skyrocket!

4.  Make It Easy To Buy
Several years ago, I found myself spending my lunch hour in a long line at the nearby fast food restaurant.  After patiently waiting for more than 30 minutes, I placed my order only to discover they didn’t accept debit cards.  Now, there’s no feeling of frustration quite like spending the best part of your lunch time waiting in line with a yammering stomach, only to be denied.

Your customers want to be able to pay in whatever way they choose when they walk to the cash register.  If you want to attract the most customers, be sure they can pay using their favorite method.

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