4 Tips to Boost Your Home-Based Business Sales During a Lull

Every business is bound to hit a lull at some point, but many business owners find themselves feeling disappointed by the lack of sales and unfortunately, businesses shut down because of it.

It doesn’t have to be that way. The next time your business takes a sales dive, be prepared, and turn it into an opportunity to revitalize your marketing efforts and start generating sales.

Here are 4 easy ways you can boost your business during a lull:

Have a Sale. This may seem like an obvious answer to some, but others are so bummed out by the lack of business that they don’t even think about it. Even offering a small 10% discount can motivate a customer to click the order button. A product or service that sells for $20 still gives you $18 after the discount, and you may have gained a return customer. Also, offering a discount or other incentive tends to compel customers to buy more then they would without it.

Hold a Draw. Splurge and offer your customers the chance to win a really awesome prize. The catch . . . they have to buy something in order to get a ticket into the draw, the more they buy, the more entries they get. Give yourself at least a month before selecting the winner so that you have a chance to let people know about your draw, and hopefully gain more sales.

Customer Rewards. People love being rewarded for the things they do, and tapping into that can prove to be worthwhile for your business. Set up a points system that allows customers to collect points for items they buy from you, or if you have a business that gives you direct access to your customers, such as distributing orders locally, give out punch cards and tell your customers that every time they spend a certain amount, they get their card punched. Once they have all ten slots punched, they get to turn their card in for special rewards. Promoting your rewards program will get your customers excited about what they can earn, which means you need to offer them worthwhile rewards in return for their efforts, doing so will gain you sales.

Contact Your Past Customers. Get creative and come up with a plan to get in touch with all your past customers, either through email, snail mail postcards or letters, or through phone and fax. Doing so will remind them that you exist, and that they liked you enough to buy from you in the past. Tell them that you are thanking them for being a customer, and because you appreciate their business, you are giving them a special offer. Your offer could be a coupon, a freebie, a buy 1 get one free deal, or any number of things that will encourage them to check you out and take advantage of your offer. Contacting past customers is something you should do on a regular basis, just because they bought from you once doesn’t mean they will return. Life gets in the way, computers crash and info is lost, there are many things that can cause your customer to lose your business information, so make sure it lands in their hands periodically.