My Farming Grandpa
would often say,
“Ya gotta make hay
while the sun shines.”
When the conditions are right
to do something,
do that something.
For many of us,
the time is currently right
to make sales.
People are looking
for gift ideas.
They’re looking to make
their lives easier
during the busy holiday season.
They’re looking
to treat themselves.
Suggest your product/service.
Put it in front of them.
Be where they are.
Market your face off.
Make hay
while the sun shines.
Many people are super busy
right now.
They are overwhelmed
by…everything.
Many people also are suffering
from poor memories
due to COVID
and other factors.
If your customers
ordered one of your products/services
around this time last year,
send them a message
asking them if they need anything
from your company again this year.
Maybe make a few suggestions.
This will
not only
increase YOUR sales.
But it will help them.
They will feel organized
and on top of their lives.
Send a reminder today.
I try to shop
at the small businesses
in the neighborhood
whenever I’m able
to do so.
Because I love our neighborhood
and I want it to thrive.
I stopped at a pet store
to pick up
a present
for a loved one’s dog.
The sole person working there,
as she was ringing up
my purchase,
told me how crime
is terrible in the neighborhood
(it isn’t).
She went on and on
about it.
She wouldn’t shut up.
By the time I left,
I felt terrible
about shopping there
and
I felt terrible
about the neighborhood.
My next stop
was a big box store
outside of the neighborhood.
And I vowed never
to shop in
that small pet store again.
Don’t bad mouth
the neighborhood
you’re doing business in.
The locals
love their neighborhood
and
they don’t want to hear
grievances about it.
A holiday ornament company
sent me an email
offering me
10% off all products
if I ordered
in September.
I ordered
in September.
They received holiday sales early
and
freed up resources
during the upcoming
busy holiday season.
I was able to order
and not have to worry
about remembering to order
in time
later in the year
AND
I received a discount.
It was a win-win
and all it took
was an email
and a small discount
from this company.
It truly WAS
that easy.
Don’t wait until
the holidays
to drive holiday sales.
Do it now.
A buddy asked me
how she could convince
her very decided sister
she should worry about COVID.
I said, “I don’t know.”
But I thought,
“You don’t.”
Convincing someone
whose mind is made up
to change their mind
is EXTREMELY difficult,
if not impossible.
It takes a disaster-level event.
We’re not going to easily convince
a vegetarian to buy
our all beef hamburgers
or
a couch potato
to train for a marathon.
We COULD, however,
convince someone who is undecided.
We COULD convince
someone who eats a variety of things
to buy our all beef hamburgers
or a person
who works out when it’s fun
to train for a marathon.
Focus on the undecided.
I recently made an appointment
to have both
an echocardiogram
and a mammogram done.
The medical center
scheduled the
echocardiogram
first.
Why?
I suspect it was
because
the echocardiogram
was the much more painful
and longest procedure
of the two.
The mammogram,
by comparison,
was quick and relatively pain free.
I left the medical center
feeling positively
about my experience there.
There’s a reason
dessert is served last.
We remember the last interaction
best.
Try to ensure
that last interaction
with a customer or prospect
is positive.
Friends and family members
told a new writer
they couldn’t wait
to buy her book.
Her book released.
NONE of them
bought her book.
NONE.
(She knew this
because she had zero sales
in that region.)
People lie.
They either tell us
what they think
we want to hear
or,
if they’re sh*tty people,
what they think
we don’t want to hear.
Try to base
your decisions
on what people do.
In my friend’s case,
do her friends and family members
already buy books
similar to hers?
If yes,
then they might buy hers.
Actions rarely lie.
Some costs,
due to climate change,
war, government changes,
other factors,
have increased by 100%
or more
compared to last year’s costs.
That level of increase,
if not offset,
will decimate the profits
of many businesses.
What are the possible offsets?
Passing the cost increase
along to the customer
i.e. increasing our prices
by at least
the same amount.
Or
having a deal
with our suppliers
that lock in prices
for a certain length
of time.
Or
being able to switch
to a lower cost input
or a lower cost supplier.
And there are other offsets.
Ensure you have a plan
for increasing supply costs.
A buddy of mine
will buy an item priced at
$19.99
much faster than
an item priced at
$20.00.
Why?
Because 1 is much less than 2.
That first digit
in the price
makes a huge difference to her.
It makes no d@mn sense.
It is only a penny cheaper.
Yet many of us
think the same way.
It is called
left-digit bias.
As Jeff Haden explains
“the leftmost digit of a number
disproportionately
influences decision-making.”
We perceive
prices ending with .99
as being bargains
and we buy more.
Researchers estimate
“ending every price with .99
would boost profits
by as much as 4 to 5 percent.”
End your prices
with .99.
Yesterday, I suggested
increasing the cost
of your products
to cover shipping
and
then offering
free shipping.
How do you do that
when you ship
all over the country
and/or world?
First, you offer
a different cost for your products
based on country.
International buyers
often already expect that.
Then you review
where your sales originate
in that country.
Are most of your sales
in the USA
coming from
the mainland
for example?
Then you offer
free shipping
to mainland USA
and charge for shipping
to other places.
You calculate
that cost of shipping
by taking your current shipping costs
divided by the number
of delivered products.
Increase that cost per delivered product,
give yourself space for error
and a little bit of profit.
Then monitor
that cost per delivered product
closely.
You’ll lose profits
on shipping costs
on some sales.
But you should more than compensate
for those losses
with gains on other sales.
Ensure you know
your shipping costs
before you offer free shipping.