What are some simple strategies I can use to turbocharge sales numbers after a slow summer?
The following answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs.
1. Run Giveaways With Bloggers
Run giveaways with bloggers and ask customers to sign up for your email list to enter. This will serve multiple purposes. It gives you exposure, provides valuable backlinks for SEO purposes, and increases the size of your email list. – Josh Weiss, Bluegala
2. Identify Off-Calendar Holidays to Offer Sales
Find an odd occasion that’ll give you an excuse to offer a sale that targets more price-sensitive customers. Visitors to your website will appreciate your quirky nature for celebrating an unusual holiday as well as revel in the savings. Also, when you offer promotions outside of regular holidays, you won’t compete with other retailers since they only discount during national holidays. – Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep
3. Work Your Ecosystem
Reach out to your ecosystem for referrals. Most of our clients are referrals from existing clients, investors and/or other service providers. Early on in my business, when sales were almost non-existent, I focused on getting out and building relationships, one client at a time. – David Ehrenberg, Early Growth Financial Services
4. Offer Discounts
If profits were down over the summer, it’s better to take a slight hit on gross profit rather than generate no sales at all. Use your social media accounts to offer discounts. Investigate new platforms, raffle off gift cards for participation in votes or polls and respond to each and every comment. That might just do the trick to build up your customer base. – Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance
5. Use Your Email List
If you’re not or haven’t been using your email list to generate more sales, now is the time. You should be pumping that thing with tips and tricks to get people interested in your products. It’s a great way to get back on the radar of your customers. Thursday nights around 10 p.m. EST is one of the best times I’ve found to email out consumer products. Offer discounts, promos and contests. – John Rampton, Adogy
6. Gear Up for September
Encourage sales staff to take vacations near the end of the summer so everyone is ready to go in the fall. Also, use the end of the summerto get organized. After Labor Day, people are back in town and focused on work. When September comes, roll out big contests to motivate your team to work harder than ever before. This is the sweet spot for sales, and you need to be ready to take advantage of it or you will miss the opportunity. – Ben Rubenstein, Yodle
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