10 Easy Ways to Increase Sales Dramatically.
Article 1: 10 Easy Ways to Increase Your Sales Dramatically! By A R Carroll 1. Accept Credit Cards Just by acquiring the ability to accept credit cards you can increase your sales 40 - 400%. Accepting credit cards adds prestige & credibility to small home-based businesses. Process orders via phone, fax, or your Web Site. Stop missing those "impulse" type sales! You might want to consider a web based credit card processor most don't require a merchant account, and don't charge any setup fees, startup fees, application fees, gateway fees, or monthly statement fees. 2. 800# & Web Site Address Having a toll free order line can sometimes double or triple your number of phone sales. Vanity toll free numbers and vanity web site addresses are easy to remember and can increase your inquiries & sales dramatically. Print your toll free number & Web Site address on your business cards, letterheads, classified ads, display ads, sales literature, etc. 3. Free Samples - Free Gifts Whether you own a candy store, ice cream parlor or restaurant giving out free samples will help to increase goodwill & sales. Here are several other examples: men's clothing stores can offer a free tie with every suit purchase, car dealers can offer free road maps or jumper-cables with every new car purchase or test drive. 4. Free Shipping - Postpaid Many large on-line retailers, chain stores & catalog houses are now starting to offer free shipping on orders of $25, $50 or more. Home based entrepreneurs can profit from this technique. Because, customers tend to order more often when they see the words "free shipping" or "postpaid". 5. Quantity Discounts & Coupons By offering quantity discounts such as buy one get one free, buy 3 for $20, buy one pair get 2nd pair 50% off, 20% off coupon, etc. can really help rack up the sales! 6. Personalized Sales Letters Personalized sales letters that don't look computer-generated and that are hand-signed usually produce better results than those that do look mass-produced. 7. Business Reply Cards Business reply cards, stamped reply cards, SASE (self-addressed stamped envelopes) all can help improve the response rate of your direct mail pieces. 8. Two-Step Advertising Method When writing copy for a small display advertisement or classified ad it is usually more productive to offer "free details", "free information", "free catalog", etc. then follow-up the inquiries with a sales letter, catalog, product information, sample etc. Here is a good rule-of-thumb to remember: if your ad is small and your product or service costs more than $6.00 it is probably better to offer "free details" in the ad and then follow up with your sales literature rather than asking for the money up-front in the ad itself. 9. Money-Back Guarantee Always offer an enhanced money back guarantee. If your competition has a 30 day money-back guarantee then it is advisable for you to offer a 60 day, 90 day or longer money back guarantee if possible. 10. Increase Your Exposure Advertise! Advertise! Advertise! Display ads, classified ads, on-line advertising, direct-mail, postcards, catalogs, self-mailers, co-op advertising, magazines, newspapers, radio, TV, newsletters, e-zines, email, telemarketing, articles, press releases, flyers, fax-on-demand, bulletin boards, trade show, signs, door hangers, contests, surveys, calendars, premiums, banners, bumper stickers, billboards, etc.
About the Author
A. R. Carroll, Writer/Successful Business Owner Please visit his Websites: www.NationalBookSales.com and www.ZeoliteDepot.com