The ONLY 3 Ways to Increase Sales
*Sigh*… another day, another stream of applications for a free 90-day Test Drive membership of the Inner Circle marketing & mentoring program, and… scattered here and there, the inevitable plea for help from a salon or spa owner who’s left it till they’re on the brink of bankruptcy before taking action.
Many begin their application along these lines:
“I’ve been getting your newsletters/watching you on the web/receiving your emails for two or three years now, and I thought I’d better do something otherwise I’ll have to close my doors in 6 weeks.”
Er…you mean it took three years to work out that you don’t get different results by doing the same thing over and over again??
In the first three days this week we accepted ten new Inner Circle members, three of them on the 30-day Test Drive. But many more didn’t make it. Some went ‘above and beyond’ in their efforts to join the elite group.
Like this one: typical, common, but no less heart-rending for all its ‘me too-ness’. It landed on my desk with the subject line that did not bode well from the start:
“I’m not going to be your favourite customer because…….”
In a two-page fax, this salon owner admits “I have been sitting on your DVD for months, moving it from one pile of paperwork to another, always ‘going to get to that later.” (Yes, I’d like to procrastinate, but I’ll get to it tomorrow….)
“I have no money to give you at the moment.” (No surprise there, given the subject line)
“I haven’t even seen the whole DVD!”
And then, the story: “I have taken my turnover from $37K to $180K in two and a half years, but owe more now than I ever have. Without sounding conceited my salon has the best reputation in town and is quite high end for this market – my growth will back this up – when other salons are closing down I am putting on more staff. The trouble is they cost more than I am making! I need to save my salon’s life and indeed my marraige because believe me, my husbane is over the whole ‘we need to put more money’ in scenario…. I am averaging 2 hours sleep a night with worry, and have nowhere to turn for the money I need to salvage this situation…”
It’s time for some of what I call ‘Accurate Thinking’. If you’re in the same situation as this salon owner, lean closer, dear reader.
There are only THREE ways to increase revenue.
That’s it, three. no more, no less. No matter whether you’re a huge multi-national, or a corner deli. Here they are:
1. Get more customers. 2. Increase what each customer spends with you. 3. Increase your prices.
Folks, it ain’t rocket science. Business is actually very simple. People make it complicated. Profit is nothing more than the difference between your revenue, and your costs. If your costs are high, either reduce them, increase your prices, or better, a combination of the two.
(However, do NOT reduce your marketing spend. Increase what you spend on marketing – it is the ONLY thing that brings customers in…. and that includes referrals, which is just word of mouth marketing.)
FREE DVD: we’re happy to send anyone who wants one, a free DVD on salon & spa marketing. But we’d prefer you actually watch it when you get it, not months later, like the salon owner above. Click here to get the FREE DVD.
