*This is a post contributed by Beth Jones
Making your business more appealing to customers can lead to a sharp rise in sales. That’s something that every business owner wants. So, here’s how to turn it into a reality.
Don’t Rely on One Thing
Many businesses are nothing more than one hit wonders. That means they create one popular product and then rely on it far too heavily. Customers will pick up on this fact, and it won’t be too long before they get bored of what you’re offering. If you want to develop a strategy for long-term success, you need to develop new and interesting products.
No matter how big your success is, it’s not safe until you have something to fall back on. For businesses that are one hit wonders, they will collapse as soon as their product does. A business needs to be more resilient and varied than that if it wants to make itself more appealing to customers.
Show Care for the Environment
Businesses that care about more than their bottom line are always appealing to customers. So, you should think about how you can do something good for the environment. There are lots of things you can do, from using clean energy to planting more trees in the community. But whatever you do, make sure people hear about it.
The best thing you can do is expand your commitment to recycling materials you use in the business. So, if you use totes, ensure you find tote recycling. And if you’re always printing off sheets of paper, make sure you recycle the ink cartridges when you no longer need them. You should recycle everything you can and then boast about it!
Express Your Passion
It’s so easy to recognise a business that’s run by owners who are passionate about what they do. And it’s also easy to recognise a business that’s run by people who don’t really care. You definitely want to be included in the first of those two categories. So, don’t be afraid to show your passion for what you do.
To show customers you care, you should always make the effort to go that extra mile to please them. This will show them that you care about their customer experience. Doing this should help you make your business more appealing to the people who you want to target and turn into customers.
Add Extra Value
People love to get something for nothing. So, adding some extra value for money will always be appealing to customers. Unexpectedly getting more than they paid for will help develop a strong reputation for your company, and it could help referrals. Happy customers will tell their friends about you, helping to increase your sales.
So, how can you add extra value to what you offer customers? You could throw in an extra free gift when they order something from your online store. Or you could give them a discount voucher for their next purchase with you. This kind of thing is the perfect way to make your business more appealing to customers.
Offer Expertise
If you really know what you’re talking about, you should brand yourself as an expert. So, if you sell gardening products, for example, you could offer your expert advice to customers. You could do this by posting articles on your website that can be read by customers. This also acts as a way of driving more traffic to your website.
Some business owners even choose to publish a book on their area of expertise. This is a great way of proving to people that you know what you’re talking about. And it allows them to trust your business much more, so it’s something that’s definitely worth doing.
Make a Real Difference
Your business needs to aspire to make a real difference if it wants to be more attractive to customers. People don’t like boring companies, so show a bit of ambition. Prove to them what difference you want to make to the world. The biggest and best businesses change the way we live and think, and that should be your aspiration too.
Your ambition doesn’t have to be huge, but you have to show customers what your reason for existing is. It’s all about communicating that original idea that made you want to start a business in the first place. It’s not easy, but it can be done if you think about it and come up with interesting ideas.
