Six Things To Improve Your Sales And Price Position

Here’s a pithy article by Robert Imbriale, a Marketing Consultant
and author of The Business Hotline, and another favorite from the Professional Pricing Society Archives. In this competitive and slowing economy, any strategy you can capitalize on to give you a cutting edge will be important, and applying proven, best practices is always a smart approach. Cheers, EM

Six Things To Improve Your Sales And Price Position

#1 Add More Value To What You Sell
Have you ever heard a customer ask you, "Is that all I get for this price?" Chances are you have. It could mean that you are not offering enough value for what you are charging, or it could be a misinformed client. What can you do to add value to your products or services? Try adding value by including items that cost you very little or even nothing at all. Think of creative ways in which you can add value to your base product or service offerings.

#2 Offer Items Of Complimentary Importance With Each Purchase
This is one of the most profitable things you can do to increase your average unit of purchase. You accomplish two things by offering complimentary products or services. First, you add value to your products or services by offering items that you know your customers will need to buy at some point. And you are saving them the trouble of having to go to another business for these items. If you sell cameras, offer batteries, film, protective cases, and other useful accessories at the time of purchase. In a service business, you can offer products that enhance your service.

#3 Sell Upgrades
Upgrades differ from complimentary products in that they are generally a better version of the same product as opposed to a complimentary or "add-on" product. In the computer industry, this is done all the time. There is no reason that you could not apply those same.

#4 Use Risk Reversal
Here's a really powerful way to increase your sales, but you have to think this one out carefully. Offer your products or services as risk free as possible to your customers. You may offer a full money back guarantee, as opposed to most companies that offer only 30 days. The rule of thumb is to keep the risk to your customer as low as possible. Returns on quality products have proven not to increase proportionately with sales, so don't worry about being overwhelmed by returns, it won't happen!

#5 Create Special Offers To Past Customers
The most profitable market is your past customers. They have already participated in business transactions with you and have developed trust in your operation and in your products. Why not take full advantage of this fact by developing specials for "preferred customers?" If you negotiate a special deal for some product or you are planning on carrying an entirely new product line, why not let your preferred customers know about it before the rest of the world? Go a step further and offer them special pricing on those products or services if they act before a specified date.

#6 Market Payment Terms
Do you offer your customers various payment options? The more flexibility you have, the better off you will be. Leasing is an easy option to set up with the large number of leasing firms in business today. Offer as many payment options as possible so that you totally remove payment as a barrier.

These and numerous other pricing resources are available to members in the Professional Pricing Society archives.