One of the most valuable lessons
I learned about sales was from my mother. She always says, “I’m not going
to force ANYBODY to take my money.” (try saying it with a southern accent---way
cooler, right?) And mama is right; buying something shouldn't be complicated.
Unfortunately, as the seller, sometimes we get hung up on the end of the
process that we fail to look at everything that happens along the way. To
make sure I don’t forget (and to keep mama proud), twice a year I walk through
the sales process of all of my products as if I were the consumer. I
thought I would share with you some of the things I look for that have led me
to consistently increase sales year after year despite a “poor” economy.
- Descriptions of items
need to tell you what they are and why they need them. If a customer is
looking at your product and they aren’t sure what it does or why they need
one then they’ll likely just move on.
- Explain to your
potential customer why they need to buy one right now. Think about this:
If Larry sees an ad for snow shovels in August, he is probably not going
to want to buy one. BUT, if you tell Larry that he can get that snow
shovel for half of what it will be in December or remind him that the best
time to prepare for winter is BEFORE it happens then Larry might just buy
that snow shovel from you in the dog days of summer.
- Too many clicks is code
for SEE YA! If your customer has to click more than twice to purchase
something, you better look at streamlining. Clicks are like doors.
The more doors they have to go through to buy something, the more time
they have to think about why they don’t need it and why spending the
effort to get it isn’t worth it.
- Make it pretty. A
picture is not only worth a thousand words but it’s worth a thousand
dollars (or more). Only use high quality graphics on your site and in your
catalogs. Blurry images or images that look home-made don’t appear
professional and will often lead the customer to think your product is
inferior (even if this isn’t the case).
- Reward the loyalists.
Make sure that you are taking the time to see who keeps coming back to you
and spending more money. Once you have identified them, reward them. Give
them a coupon, special gift, or at least a thank you. Let them know that
they’re more than just a number to you.
What other ideas do you have for
making the shopping experience easy and painless for your customers? Join us on
Facebook and share your thoughts! www.facebook.com/hjkdigital.
