Boost Profits, Beat Customer Expectations by Offering the Unexpected

Growing isn’t always about getting new customers, sometimes it’s about surpassing customer expectations with what you already have. Here are four marketing strategies that can help you grow in place.

sell more to customers you already have

If you are looking for new ideas that will help you acquire new customers or surpass customer expectations, so they will stay longer and spend more at your place of business, adding convenient goods or services outside of the regular scope of your inventory or menu might be the way to go. Here are four options to consider that might help you attract new customers and increase revenues.

In a bid to maintain their presence in the community while also lowering costs, the USPS now allows small businesses like coffee shops, grocery stores, hardware stores and other small businesses to offer postal services previously only available in official USPS locations. Small businesses participating in the USPS Village Post Office project believe that by offering services like these will create an additional draw for existing customers or even bring in new shoppers who might not otherwise have visited.

While adding postal services might be a little too far removed from your type of business, it brings up a good point.  To attract new customers and sell more products or services, you often need to expand the scope of what you currently offer.

You can do this by adding items to your menu that customers might expect to find at a business like yours, or you can ”think  outside the box” and offer the unexpected – other products or services which are convenient for them to purchase from your business.

how to increase average sales ticket

4 Ways to Surpass Customer Expectations and Sell More to  Customers You Already Have

When evaluating ideas for expanding your small business, here are four ways to grow your small business, attract new customers and increase your average ticket per customer:

1.  Think about bookends

Where do your customers go immediately before or after coming to your business?  What products or service  is typically purchased before or after yours?  By thinking about what customers do in the chronological time before and after visiting your business you may be able to expand your own product and service menus to exceed your customer’s expectations.

2.  Think about interruptions

Is there anything that interrupts the customer buying process, such as the product or service of a direct or indirect competitor?  It might be possible for you to modify or expand your own products or services to preclude interruption of the buying cycle by direct or indirect competitors.

3.  Think about ways to add value and increase prices and/or average ticket per customer

One of the oldest pricing strategies around is also one of the most underused.  By adding value, creating a variety of sizes or adding add-on options, you give yourself the ability to compete against both higher and lower priced competitors and attract members of both buyer personas.

Even discount driven shoppers will often ultimately upgrade to a product or service based on the value they perceive they will receive.  By creating an entry level price point, you can get the conversation started.

And on the other end of the spectrum, you may have existing customers who would like to deepen their relationship with your business by upgrading to a higher level of service or products with more features (and more value).

4.  Think about ways to attract members of ideal client types based on buyer personas

If you think about expanding your business based on the various buyer personas of your ideal client types, you may well find that your options are endless.  Evaluating the lifestyles, interests and values represented by your ideal client can provide you with a never-ending source of inspiration for adding services or products to those provided by your small business.

By thinking about the needs of your current customer base and developing buyer personas based on your ideal customer types, you can add items to your product or service menu in a strategic way in order to attract new customers and increase sales to your existing client base.

You might also like: 9 Ways to Make Sure You (Always) Live Up to Customer Expectations

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My 2015 Small Business Marketing Calendar is available on amazon.com — absolutely packed with marketing inspiration and a working calendar that you can use to attract – engage – retain and motivate your customers in the coming year.

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