There are times that your sales will hit the bottom. Even if you work hard with a winning passion and drive in your business, it is always predicted that there will be months that you would not be able to raise your sales numbers. When this happens, do not get too devastated. Do not take it personally because everybody is experiencing this at some point. As the old saying goes, not every day is Christmas. I understand that it could be a little alarming if the sales won’t go high or won’t even meet the breakeven. But then again, every entrepreneur, big or small, experience a business slump.
Some call this a downtrend or down market. It is natural to experience this and it will soon pass with great effort and teamwork. And good news for you, below are the things that you can do to overcome business slump:
Identify the cause/reason
Some business slump can be predictable. Especially if your product/service is more seasonal. The first thing to do is to assess the situation and do not panic. Be objective and look for every reason even the smallest things that you think may trigger or cause why your business fluctuates. Sometimes you won’t be able to find the cause of the problem, but that is okay. Here are some ideas that might be the reason why you are experiencing a business slow down:
- New competitor
- A recent change in packaging or service package
- Natural Disaster
- Poor organization management
Offer a discount
Who does not want to buy if it is on sale right? Give them a deadline because people tend to act quickly if it has a limit or deadline especially for those impulsive buyers/customers. Offer discounts, promos, free shipping, coupons, etc. You can bundle your products or what they call Buy 1 Take 1 promo. For services, you can tie up two services for a discounted price. With this strategy, you are hitting two birds in one stone – you are attracting not only your existing customers but also new customers to avail your products/service.
Take advantage of Social Media
Almost everybody is on social media today, from teenagers to adults. You can definitely reach your target market for free or for the least cost. There are different techniques now that you can do online to boost your business. Besides posting on your page timeline, there is also Facebook & Instagram Story where you can share a photo or short video and it will appear on the top of your follower’s newsfeed. Stories will be visible for 24hrs only. If you don’t have time to manage your business social media, you can always hire a social media manager.
Use existing customer to get New customer
The reason why most networking businesses succeed is that they make use of their existing customers to make or get a new customer. Give your existing customer a discount or freebie when they bring or refer a new customer. There is a possibility that all your existing customers have your products already or maybe they want to take a break from patronizing your service for the meantime. You’ll never know, maybe you can also cater to a new set of a target market. But make sure that your new target market is appropriate for your business.
Reward your Employees
A happy employee is a happy business. Quoting the renowned and serial business magnate, Richard Branson had said, “if you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers”. This quote is true, especially when it comes to the Filipino workforce. When we feel that we are properly taken care of by the employers, we will definitely go the extra mile to reach and even exceed our target metrics and workload. It is important that we take care of our employees like our family since, without them, our business would not possible to thrive, let alone survive. Unhappy employees will give poor service and will result in the unsatisfied customer. That’s why it may also be the reason why your business fluctuates.
Offer something New
Create a new variation of your product. If you are offering the same product or service ever since you opened maybe it’s time to give your customers something new to try. Make something interesting that will create a buzz about your business or new product/service. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to create a whole brand new product, you can just also modify your existing product/service.
Final Thoughts:
If you do all this or just some of these strategies, know that it will take time to see a result. If what you want is an immediate result, then we (or anyone else) won’t be able to help you. What you need is magic or a miracle for that to happen.
Or let a professional handle this work for you. Contact us today and let our professional team handle your marketing effort to help you overcome your business slump.
