Don't Let Your Business Fail in the Present Economy

How do we make sure that our business will survive the economic down turn? One way is to make sure that we simply make more sales. So many owners of business enterprises seem to think that they need to chase down more clients. Its one way, but it is a really difficult way of achieving the object. I'm advocating the tactic of selling more to our current customers rather than trying to obtain new ones by spending our money on expensive advertising. When I say we should sell more, I mean more of the same product or service that the customer asked you for in the first place. More complementary items, that while the customer is in the hot to buy zone you could offer them, or items that help them consume the original product.

Up-selling is the way big corporations like MacDonalds make the most out of each customer visit, we ought to try and emulate them. Aero-engine manufactures make money on the on going service contracts for their products, can we in our business do the same? Computer printer manufacturers make money on ink sales and will go out of their way to make you buy their own branded ink. If your printer breaks down and needs to be repaired under the warranty you can have a nasty shock when the warranty is declared void because the repair man has tested your ink and found you were refilling the cartridges and not using branded replacements. Now perhaps you don't approve of these tactics but, as entrepreneurs that are of a more modest size either on the web or in our bricks and mortar businesses, what can we learn from this and apply to our own offerings?

We are all aware that paid for advertising is expensive and sometimes a waste. We often have no idea which part of our advertising budget is going down the drain and which bit is hitting on target. Often an enterprise simply depends on word of mouth and its customers tripping over them on the way to somewhere else. If you are in the enviable position to get a large amount of passing trade to your door, or organic search engine rankings in the internet world, what we all need to do is maximise profits and the number of products and services that we sell by "up-selling" to our current customers.

It is a well known fact, taught in many businesses training courses, that obtaining new customers is so much harder for a business than selling something to our existing ones. So, that being the case, our goal should be to entice our current customers to spend a bit more with us than they originally intended to do and up-selling is one way to achieve this. Once we've made a sale the key to continued success is developing a relationship with our customer and selling consumables or similar products.

The sale of an item should be just the beginning for us if we are smart.

I really do believe that holding on to our existing customers is much the most important idea than having to go out and try to attract new ones to our business who will need warming up before they will become regular buyers. So many business people forget this truth and then devote much time, energy and money to seeking out new custom while all the time omitting to build a great relationship with their current customers. Its a mindset that I hope you will join me in and so protect your business and see that it doesn't fail in today's tough economic climate.

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