Although some businesses enjoy crowds all year-round, most struggle with ups and downs in some form. Little or no orders come in, offers don’t apply as well as they do during the holiday season, and your website / online store becomes a ghost town. Yet, bills pour down like rain.
The reason could be a cyclical slump or a difficult time for your industry. Whatever the case, you’ll need to take measures to not only survive the slow times but also thrive when the rough phase ends. So, how do you keep your business chugging along in the slower months?
Below are some tips to counteract business slowdown and get sales back on track.
Get Creative, Host a Popup Sale
Getting customers to notice you is a challenge during the slow period, but with some creativity, you can create quite a buzz. One way to do this is to host an unadvertised pop-up sale; this is a great way to surprise your customers with special discounts. Do this once or twice a month, and you’ll see foot traffic increase as people spread the word that you’ve having a pop-up sale (it can be done for services-based businesses, too). You can utilize your online presence – business website and social media pages – to communicate the pop-up.
Why Run a Pop-Up?
Host an Open House
Another effective tactic to keep your business in the limelight is to host an open house event. You can invite your best customers and locals, and showcase your new offerings at the event. Also, make full use of the opportunity to interact with them in-person by giving back to them; you can make goodie bags or even set up an appreciation dinner. An open house will also attract new customers because they have a vibrant feel to them. The foot traffic is likely to increase if you host an open house at a certain time period like near the Cinco de Mayo holiday. Lastly, advertise the event with flyers and posters, and use the same collateral to send out invites online.
Give Your Website a Boost
A rough patch could be an emotional roller coaster ride, but you can keep a leg up by attracting web visitors to your website. The option of using SEO specialists, traffic analysis experts, and similar professionals is available to businesses that want to discover weak spots and find out what tweaks are needed to get more eyeballs online. By knowing where your website stands from the critical search engine ranking perspective, you can make changes that bring your business to the forefront of internet searches.
INFOGRAPHIC: 2016 WEB DESIGN TRENDS TO BOOST CONVERSIONS
Focus on Those in Your Proximity
Locals, the people living in the proximity where your business is based, deserve attention. When your main customers don’t buy from you, you have to rely on nearby customers to keep business afloat. By coming up with specials for locals in your area, you can still make sales after the target audience disperses. If you develop a good relationship with these folks, you may be able to get them to support you throughout the year. This may also give you an edge over local competitors that might not be offering specials to local customers.
11 Powerful Ways to Boost Your Sales Right Now
Take these measures to keep your chin up during the slow period.
