It’s more than about the price

I’ve completed a great sales workshop and among the many topics discussed was the dangers of discounting.

So it is an opportune time to reflect on a few things that businesses can consider besides discounting.

In days past, we would typically see stock-take sales and a seasonal sale to clear out stock and make way for the new-season offerings.

Today it seems there is a sale every other week and not just from store to store but in the same store. I wonder if continued sales devalue your products?

While it might be true that sale items can be a means of getting people into your store, is there a better way?

Consider this – if your gross margin is 30 percent, you have to increase your overall sales by 50 percent if you discount your products by 10 percent.

That is a massive increase in sales to compensate for the discount. So let’s move away from discounting for the moment and consider some other ways to better use out-ofseason stock. Maybe consider using out-of-season stock to reward your loyal customers.

For example if they spend $100 they can choose from a particular selection, if they spend $150 they get to choose from another selection, or a second piece and so on.

What about VIP nights where you can reward loyal customers again with a product of their choice using a similar method?

Another opportunity might be to use this stock as your loyalty-card rewards rather than giving away discounts because this dramatically affects your bottom line.

When it comes to loyalty cards, while a great idea, the only ones I carry on me are coffee cards.

There’s just not enough room in my handbag for all the rest. Any other card, for example, a salon or fashion store stays at home and gets lost.

A great add-value to your service might be to store the loyalty cards at your business and update them for your clients as required. One of my service providers does that and I just love that part of the service. That’s value to me.

Maybe work out what is of value to your clients and if enough of your clients look for the same thing well there’s an easy add-value that you can offer.

As a business it is so important to focus and educate your customers about the value and benefits of products.

It’s not all about price to everyone, great customer service and value-add can far exceed price.