13 ways to get customers to buy more from you
1) Create an irresistible offer. You have to give McDonalds credit for the “supersize me” offer. It may only generate another 40p or 50p per sale, but because it's such an irresistible offer, more than 30% of customers will say yes. And that 40p or 50p is almost all profit, as the company's fixed costs have already been absorbed in the price of the smaller item. The scale of the offer must be relative to the purchase, but once you have acquired the customer you can start to create lifetime value.

2) Add point of sale purchases. Those associated purchases or impulse buys that the supermarkets put by the checkouts aren’t an accident. Small low-price items that are perfectly positioned will face the least resistance from a buyer who’s already decided to make a purchase from you.

3) Get them hooked with a free sample. Prospects that test your product or service risk-free will hopefully recognise its value and continue purchasing what you offer. Or even better, your prospect will get "hooked" on your product or service and won't be able to live without it. And the fact that it was given away free will compel them to return the favour by continuing to purchase from you. This principle is called the "Law of Reciprocity". Simply stated, people naturally feel an obligation to return favours as a way of expressing their thanks.

4) Educate them if they could use the product differently; benefit more from using associated products in conjunction; buy this much, get this one free, etc. Remember the famous story of the shampoo company who doubled their sales with the simple phrase “rinse and repeat”.

5) “Other customers who bought XYZ also bought…” This clever approach is used by many online retailers to position more of their product lines in front of customers who might be interested. Where key components like batteries aren’t included, make sure you offer them.

6) Communicate with customers more often about your full offering as part of your sales process. This could take the form of newsletters, emails, mailshots, letters, advertising and PR, events, brochures and literature.

7) Consider what else your customers buy that you could sell. The more you know about your customers, the more back-end products and services you can provide. This means that their main purchase simply becomes a foot-in-the-door, and now you can increase the frequency of purchase and average spend

8) Offer incentives and discounts. By understanding the lifetime value of customers, i.e. the total value of their spend during their time as a customer, you can decide how much you are prepared to discount to get them back through the door

9) Position yourself as an expert to gain their trust and confidence. Through your PR, direct communications and website, you can provide information, reviews, reports, and details on your specialist area. Customers often don’t know the right questions to ask, so help them out

10) Review your ordering process to see if you are making it difficult for people to buy from you. Look at your website cart abandonment rate or try a mystery shopper service

11) Are you focusing on the benefits? Customers only care what you can do for them. Benefits build rapport by demonstrating that you understand their point of view. If you don’t know what they are, ask your customers. You can never know too much about why people buy from you.

12) Are your staff selling? By testing, measuring and analysing all your marketing and sales processes, you can see where the majority of initial sales and back-end sales take place. Are your best people in place to exploit those opportunities?

13) Do you have enough stages in your sales process? Constantly chasing prospects after they've shown an interest can be soul-destroying and border on pushy salesmanship. But by having a longer sales process, prospects are moved from one stage to the next over a period of time, constantly informed and educated, and reminded of your services. Just because they didn’t buy doesn’t mean they’re not interested in what you sell, so ensure you have at least seven stages in your sales process, including emails, mailshots, brochures, PR, web downloads, and phone calls.

Read the second article - grow your online business.
Read the third article - love thy customer

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