Lots of business owners say grandly they like to add new customers every day but in my view that is a sentiment we would all agree with and not a concrete plan. The question is HOW to get more customers consistently? Well, you need to have some numbers at your fingertips before you can strategize about generating more business on a daily basis.
Firstly, get a handle on your expenses. This can also be expressed as the cost of doing businesses. This can be divided into three types of expenses: administrative, product and marketing. Included under administrative expenses are staff, accountants, training, renting premises, office furniture or shop fittings. While these don't directly bring in business it's hard to do business without them. You try to do without them at your peril but don't let your expenses get out of hand.
The cost of products is self-explanatory if you have a retail business. It refers to the costs of putting stock on your shelves. In manufacturing businesses it refers to the cost of raw materials. Profitability means selling at a high enough margin to make a good profit. Find out what your margin is and make sure you can easily compare your inventory cost to your gross income. If you have a service business your physical inventory cost may be low but then you must take that valuable commodity, time, into account. Put a value on each hour.
The third type of expense can be regarded as something else entirely. It is rather an investment than a cost. The marketing budget you invest annually into your business should show a direct return. This means that for every $100 you spend on marketing you get a certain number of dollars in profits. Make sure you have a handle on this relationship
The basis of good marketing is that the best marketing efforts can be duplicated. When you run a promotion you should be able to expect a certain return with confidence. By tracking your numbers you'll know what flyer or email produced which sales and consequently what profits.
If you are keen on increasing the number of daily customers you should go about it like this. List every method you currently use to attract existing clients and make a note of the expense involved in running these campaigns. Then list at least ten ways to get new customers and write down what these marketing tactics are likely to cost. Then think of another then ways to get your existing and new customers to spend more money with you through buying other products or services. Put a cost value to these as well. Make small changes, one at a time, and test your work. Then you will incrementally expand your client base. Perhaps you will attract customers outside your traditional locality.
It is extraordinarily comforting to have a handle on the numbers concerned with your business. It makes the prospect of tweaking your marketing approach a lot less daunting. Knowing your baseline numbers puts you in a more favorable position to turn you business into a customer-attracting machine with a great return on marketing investment. |
