How to convince customers to shop small businesses

Key quotes:

• "There are a variety of strategies you can utilize to persuade your in-store customers to engage with your business online."
• "It’s been found that email is 40 times more effective for acquiring customers over Twitter and Facebook, and 72 percent of people would rather receive promotional content through email rather than social media."
• "When customers are at checkout, mention to them that they’ll receive coupons through mobile texting if they give you their phone numbers."
• "Then, send the coupons around the same time every month so customers know when to expect them."
• "On your receipts, put a web address where customers can take a survey about your store and receive a discount code in exchange."
• "Before customers can start the survey, collect their emails so you can foster a relationship through email newsletters."

Key quotes:

• "If your business is based locally in a community where you live, play, and work, but you provide your offerings online, you might have a perception problem."
• "Remind your community of shoppers that you’re both local and online."
• "With the anonymity that can come from online shopping, it’s important to remind your customers of the benefits of choosing your online small business."
• "Here are three ways to convince your customers to buy local by shopping in your online store."
• "A blog from your business allows you to tell your story and encourage customers to buy local."
• "Share the cost and work of offering a promotion with a community business partner."

Transcript: How to convince people to buy in retail so I got a great question front of my youtube viewers love you guys Mayra who wrote in to say what if you work in retail how would I convince people they need an item I work at Armani and I need to sell two to three items per transaction this is a great question and having dealt with a lot of salespeople at I'd malls and in retail outlets I've seen the worst I've seen a few people who do it really well so I wanted to share three quick tips with you on how to sell better in retail number one actually care this might sound crazy for but for some reason nobody actually does this actually care about your customers okay when somebody walks in the door if I'm walking into your Armani store I don't want you just seeing the money in my pocket okay I want you seeing me I want your goal to be when people come into your store your goal is not to sell them anything your goal is to make your customer happy that's a different mindset because too many people come in... See more →

Key quotes:

• "Since measuring the satisfaction of B2B customers is more difficult than asking consumers for their feedback, small businesses that market to other businesses aren’t always sure how to attract and retain customers."
• "This is why many people consider B2B a more difficult audience than B2C, marketing to consumers."
• "We don’t know if that’s true or not, but it’s undeniable that catching the attention of B2B customers requires a whole different approach than marketing to consumers."
• "Strip your website to the absolute basics, and don’t overwhelm your market with too many choices right away."
• "Try to showcase your product or service in action, and let prospective B2B customers see for themselves what your business can do for them."
• "Feature testimonials on your website that show why your B2B customers have chosen your products or services over all the others on the market."

Transcript: How to convince a customer to buy from you first of all I don't think you need to convince customers to buy from you the biggest challenge here for entrepreneurs is you don't stand for something there's nothing unique or different about you that makes customers want to work with you if you're the same as everybody else with the same product same service same features as everybody else is nothing unique about you then you've stuck in the trap of having to try too hard sell people and follow up when you get desperate and you cut your prices and you don't get the business that you want you don't get the clients that you want you don't get the repeat customers that you want the key thing that separates great entrepreneurs from the mediocre ones is that they stand for something there's something that they believe in they're trying to change the world for the better there's something that makes you want to work with them so you have to first figure out what that is for your business you want to create something that will make you a magnet for ideal customers in my business for example... See more →

Key quotes:

• "This essentially means that if small business merchants want to increase their sales, they can’t sit waiting in their stores hoping that customers will magically find them."
• "Below we’ve outlined a small business sales funnel — as it relates to retailers — to help you picture and understand how and when to engage your potential customers."
• "SEE ALSO: The Comprehensive Guide to Local Store Marketing Event Marketing: Create an Experience A great way to increase retail sales and introduce your business to new customers is to create an experience that aligns with your brand."
• "The overall goal of this section of the small business sales funnel is simple: Every single person who walks through your doors should spend money in your store."
• "Yes, you’ll never get 100 percent of your visitors to spend, but by providing the best in-store experience possible, you’ll maximize your chances to acquire new customers and boost sales in the process."
• "Customer communication is key to creating a great experience and is integral to learning how to increase sales in retail."

Key quotes:

• "Selling services to small businesses is achieved by getting these three things right: Offering refers to what you’re selling."
• "I run a web design agency in Norwich, so I sell web design services to local businesses."
• "This is why WordPress websites are a great fit for small businesses, where the focus is on usability and building something simple and clean."
• "How you are perceived by your customers is the third driving factor in selling services."
• "The only way to start a small business and grow from scratch is to establish some authority as a specialist."
• "For example, a marketing agency starting to sell websites into existing customers, so they can sell them to new customers."