How to turn a random client into permanent and significantly increase the average bill.
You cannot argue with this classic theory of entrepreneurship, but today it is difficult to find a niche where competition would be so weak that any methods of attracting audiences would have the "wow" effect.
On the contrary, every year the client becomes more demanding and selective, and marketers are forced to invent new and new ways to lure customers.
The most common ways continue to be discounts, bonuses and gifts.
However, the other side of the coin is a decline in profits, dumping and work, at best, with minimal profitability.
As a result, the vast majority of companies, especially small and medium-sized businesses, are only dreaming of solid incomes.
Is there any way out? Yes, but the first you need to find out why the traditional methods of attracting customers are the path of losing profits.
Do you know what size of discount your competitors offer? Are you ready to offer as much?
Moreover, what if any of your "colleagues" offer the clients a bigger discount?
After all, this is how the dumping begins, which leads many companies to very poor financial results.
And, not to mention the fact that significant part of your audience, spoiled by constant promotional offers, will require more and more discounts.
Until the moment when you will be difficult to balance at the minimum level of profitability.
Moreover, this audience will turn away from you: there is no larger discount, which means no sales.
Bonuses are more effective in attracting customers, and certainly more useful for saving profits.
Well, for example, take the bonus savings cards that almost all self-respecting retailers offer today.
Every time you purchase something, a certain amount of bonuses is credited to your bonus card, which can be used for paying the next purchases.
Moreover, although the percentage of the bonus size to the purchase price can vary substantially, the seller’s benefit is that client cannot completely pay for the purchase with bonuses. It means the buyer still brings real money to the company.
That all sounds great to large businesses, where using a bonus system creates a significant amount of sales on which, in fact, they earn.
However, what about the small and medium business that sells not everyday goods and services? In this case, the main factors, which really work, are comfort and individual approach.
Everybody loves gifts, especially when they are unexpected and useful.
If you add a shoe polish with the purchase of shoes or offer to cover a nail polish for free when ordering a manicure, or present a couple of lessons with a coach when client buying a six-month subscription to the gym, you can get not only a loyal client, but in some ways you get a brand lawyer.
Nevertheless, there are also some "shortcomings". This shortcoming is the cost of the gift, which implies the additional cost to the budget of your company.
Of course, you can donate a cheap postcard or sampler of cosmetics that you got for free from the supplier, but the value of such gift will be low in the eyes of your clients.
You can invest the cost of the gift in the price of the main product, but the client very quickly starts to notice such things, and instead of gratitude, you will receive a portion of the negative.
Thus, the cost of the gift can be painlessly done only within the trade margin.
Small and medium businesses are becoming more and more willing to use this tool, and the buyer appreciates this.
For example, you stayed at a hotel and you need to do the styling before an important event.
And at the reception you are receiving the flyer to beauty salon, which proposes a styling for free on the condition that you pay for make-up.
Moreover, they will present this flyer to you provided that you order a coffee and a croissant in the lobby bar.
We can also consider another option: you with your friends rested in a bar, and the waiter offered to make an additional small order for the whole company to receive free tickets to the cinema or an amusement park.
As a result, each participant in this process receives benefits. Because in any case, you have to have breakfast and coffee with a croissant suits you perfectly.
At the same time, you were satisfied with the attention and received styling for free.
The hotel got a loyal customer and raised the check thanks to your breakfast. A beauty salon has sold extra service. In the bar, the company has ordered some additional dishes and drinks.
Moreover, having come to the cinema, each participant will probably buy popcorn and cola, thereby having increased the average bill.
The cinema tickets that were sold with the help of a cafe and so belonged to the category of "unused" (that is they were included in the percentage implied in the budget like "unsold" through the cashier), because not every session becomes a full sellout.
Thus, the buyer gets more goods for less money. The seller lengthens the check. A partner gets an additional client. It is a perfect picture, but who pays for the gift itself?
Most businesses, especially those who working in the service sector, have some goods an services which are not selling adequately like unfilled halls, unused staff, idle capacities, poorly demanded positions in menu.
All this can be painlessly used for the budget in affiliate sales to attract additional customers.
Provided that the work of the partnership schemes will be set up correctly, the client will not only receive a useful and valuable gift, but also a gift that is even more expensive than the first check.
In this case, the compensation to the partner who provided the gift may be lower, sometimes several times.
However, if there is no system for properly monitoring of partnerships, then there will be precedents of abuse and instead of income, you can receive losses and damaged reputation in the business environment.
Therefore, it is necessary to conclude a cooperation agreement to ensure the benefit of mutual collaboration between the partner companies because it is about money, and not about friendly relations.
The accounting system should be also developed and implemented. The appropriate software products are usually too expensive for small businesses and startups, but there is a simpler and cheaper option.
This is a bonus-gift system «Server POSITIVE». This software allows you to manage the interaction scheme between partners flexibly and to provide the unique methods of using gifts.
Several Ukrainian companies have already appreciated the advantages of the «Server POSITIVE» software. The idea is simple: this software allows the partners to attract additional customers or increase the average bill without applying any discounts.
The software is integrated into any software of the company from various manufacturers. The algorithm of its work is intuitively clear even to a non-information technology specialist. The software provides various scenarios for its use.
A competently built system of affiliate sales will allow both you and your partners to reach a qualitatively new level of business development, and you can increase your profits and continue to develop in any circumstances.