In today's age of digital marketing and developing trust with your consumer base, it's imperative that you stay true to your word on your sale terms.
Failure to do so jeopardizes the consumer's trust and decreases the likelihood of purchases, referrals and consumer satisfaction with your brand.
Let's start covering the three simple steps so that after you are finished reading this tutorial, you are set up for success.
I am also going to teach you three simple steps to ensure your sales actually sell.
- When to run a sale.
- How to create a sale that actually sells.
- How long to run your sale (so you can maximize your profits!).
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When To Run A Sale
Running a sale is an effective and easy way to generate additional revenue. However, continually running sales month after month will eventually become detrimental to your brand and train your customer base to never buy full-price products from you.
For your brand to grow, it's imperative that you train your customer base early into the relationship (and their customer journey) that your brand is worth its retail prices.
Although this strategy could cover an entire blog post, I will cover the primary point being that sales are strategically timed and are special events, not a standard occurrence.
The times that sales are most effective (when you should run your sales) are the following times:
The Beginning Of The Customer Journey
The Customer Journey is the process and experience that takes place when a prospect determines they need/want your product or service.
Once they find you/your brand and enter your list is where you want to have a fine-tuned strategy to quickly introduce them to your brand and then convert them into a customer.
The easiest way to do this is by removing as much friction in the decision-making process as possible, including lowering and/or eliminating the risk by having a sale price that far outweighs the financial investment (cost for them).
This is a strategy you should always have in place for every brand-new email recipient.
Note: Offering a sale to a brand-new person is advised, but do not launch a sale at them without first offering something of value.
If you fail to provide value first before the sale is presented to them, you'll see poor sales. Take advantage of my free consultation to discuss this critical strategy with me by clicking this link.
Seasonal Events Correlated To Your Product Or Service
We've covered the entry point of the Customer Journey. Now it's time to discuss when it makes sense for you to run a sale for existing products.
The first thing I want you to consider is that statistically speaking, the odds are always stacked against you.
Don't help those odds out by running random sales without any foresight into when and why that sale is happening.
Architect your sale so it doesn't require the brain to use processing power. It's a natural event with assumed participation by the ideal customer.
The best way I can explain this point to you is by asking you this question and seeing what immediately comes to mind. This should be a fun exercise!
There's a 4th of July BBQ. What kind of food will be on the grill?
Did you immediately, without even having to exert any processing power from your brain, think of hamburgers and hot dogs?
My guess is if you are American, the answer is "yes."
Let's try one more example.
A woman just got engaged. Did she get anything for her engagement?
I'm guessing you immediately thought "engagement ring".
Do you wonder why that is?
Here's the short answer:
Your brain has been programmed, through advertising and marketing, to make a direct correlation with one event and a specific product.
It is such a strong connection that your brain doesn't even have to exert processing power to make the association. Therefore, you don't even judge the answer that comes into your mind; it is perceived to be the standard.
So standard in fact, that if you were to show up to a 4th of July BBQ and they were not serving hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, you'd think it was odd.
Furthermore, if you heard a woman got engaged and the man did not buy her an engagement ring, you'd immediately think that to be odd and wonder why.
I think you clearly understand this point.
Review what seasonal events and occasions make complete sense for your customers to associate your sale with their lives.
Once you know those answers, mark those dates into your annual marketing strategy and start developing the sales that will make the most success (and profits) for you.
Note: Don't mistake a sale for discounting a product or service. You don't have to truly discount anything in order to run a sale! As a matter of fact, many of the major retailers mark UP their prices during a sale and people rush to buy!
It's all about the strategy of the sale.
If you need some help with this, please take advantage of a free consultation with me and we can discuss your strategy. My agency can even design, build and launch the sale for you. Here's the link to claim your free 20-minute, no obligation consultation.
Break Through Slow Times (and seasons) With A Sale
Do you have a slow time in your business? Do you have product or time of the year that continues to present a challenge in moving the sales needle?
Every business has at least one time throughout the year that it sees sales slow.
There are two primary ways to get through the slow time(s) of the year.
The first is to repurpose the use of the product.
Think baking soda and how it is marketed as a closet/room/carpet deodorizer.
Then, at other times in the year it is marketed as, "Place one in your fridge and one in your freezer."
Same product, but they keep finding new reasons for you to buy more of the same thing throughout the year.
I think that method is fairly self explanatory, so I am going to cover the second method.
The second is create a sale (focused on an upcoming event) that sells the product now (and solves that upcoming problem).
That sentence may have confused you. Don't fret, I am going to dissect that for you now.
We are going to use airlines as our example.
Most major airlines indicate their slow season (when flight demand is at its lowest) is September 1-30. It's right after the Summer travel season and before the upcoming major holidays, including the busiest travel day of the year: Thanksgiving.
Image courtesy of Southwest Airlines.
You can see in this example, Southwest Airlines is running a sale for their customers to take advantage of discounted rates if they book 3 months in advance to travel during Southwest's slow season.
It's a smart move.
Southwest is collecting the revenue now for future product consumption. They understand the more they sell now provides them with a better chance of selling more product/services by the time September arrives.
You can do the same thing.
Run a sale now for your product or service and promote the future benefit of doing so.
Here's a few easy examples:
Home Products:
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Coaching:
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Supplements:
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How Long Your Sale Should Last
I am a firm believer in creating value through quality, service and exclusivity. This not only applies to products and services, but also to sales.
Arguably the simplest of advice to implement within this article, your sales start date and end date should be very clear and communicated well in advance.
The benefit to this is that your customers and interested prospects will be able to plan for buying from you. Many people do not randomly buy. They plan to buy so it's your job to ensure that they can start planning to buy for your sale.
Furthermore, it's also your duty to provide the reason why they should buy from you during your sale.
A few things you'll want to check off to ensure your sale is designed to sell:
"Ensure Your Sale Is Designed To Sell" Checklist
Your sale should have a purpose with a clear problem it solves.
Your sale should have items that reinforce your theme.
Your sale should provide high perceived value.
Your sale should be promoted at least 7 days in advance.
Your sale should have a clear start and end date.
Your sale should run no more than 4 days.
That's it! I have provided you with some simple, yet effective tips for you to create a sale that sells. If you have found value in this article, please share it with your social network.
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