If you give a discount to your most loyal customers, you might be doing something wrong. At least you’re not doing all you can to reward your best customers, and keep them coming back. Experts say there are some rules to follow to make your customers feel like kings from the very first moment they encounter your product or service. Do it right, and you’ll not only score a lifelong customer, but also an advocate for your brand—and that’s a lot more valuable. In order to bring you up to speed, Inc.com has compiled seven of the most innovative and ingenious tips from articles, guides, and interviews in Inc.and Inc.com over the past year. These are the new rules of building customer loyalty. Continue reading »
Ask a new business owner what his marketing strategy is, and he will most likely say “sell as many products as possible to as many people as possible.”
While optimism is a good quality in an entrepreneur, this definition is a recipe for disaster. When you are unclear whom you are trying to reach, you will stumble from one marketing tactic to another, diving into Facebook with zeal one week, Tweeting like a fool the next, and, in a final act of desperation, pitch your friends and neighbors as if you were a teenager begging for a last-minute date to the prom.
An effective marketing strategy defines: Continue reading »
Over the past four years, sales quotas have risen nearly 33 percent, yet the percentage of representatives making their quota has fallen by 25 percent: A bad omen for companies, and perhaps a worse omen for the reps that depend on their sales to earn their keep.
The statistics come from The Bridge Group, a sales strategy firm based in Hudson, Massachusetts. The reportalso found that on average, only about 50 percent of sales reps made their quota, and more than 42 percent of companies reported that less than 50 percent of reps were meeting or exceeding their quota.
“It’s mind-boggling,” Continue reading »
Groupon, the group buying site offering daily deals, has proven to be wildly popular with consumers. Great discounts are given for restaurants, retail stores, spas, theaters and much more. What’s more appealing than scoring a $100 massage for $25 or grabbing a meal valued at $50 for $15? People love discounts, especially during hard times when money is tight.
Investors also are enamored with Groupon. Google famously offered to buy the site for $6 billion but got rejected. Now all eyes are on the Chicago-based firm to file for an initial public offering before the year ends. A Groupon IPO will likely generate a fortune for early investors, according to market analysts.
Launched in 2008, Groupon is a fast growing company, having transformed the world of online shopping. It has boosted the number of markets where it operates to 500 and has 70 million subscribers. It has a staff of 1,500 working at locations in cities throughout the U.S. and across 29 countries. The company is rumored to have generated $760 million in revenue for 2010, up from $33 million in 2009.
Who’s not loving Groupon? It appears to be Continue reading »
Not every sale is good for your customer, and not every sale is good for your business.
Too many product returns, tiny profit margins, and customers who disappear into the wind are just three common reasons your company must constantly evaluate and reevaluate the sales strategy. And this is true across the board: whether your company offers professional consulting services or hand-made tea kettles, the key component to maximizing your business’s profits will be understanding the types of sales that make your customers happy—as well as those that make your company grow.
Before looking out to Continue reading »
