By Rebecca Davis
Photo by Martin
If every small business owner knew just how long a slow customer sales period would last before she started her business, there might be few businesses around. Entrepreneurs rarely envision that customer sales slow when they start their companies. Instead, they romanticize the experience, similar to how women and men romanticize the start of a new relationship.
Although this romanticizing can produce positive results, it can also offer hazards. For instance, too much business romanticizing could cause entrepreneurs to throw in the towel midway through a customer sales slump. If customer sales slow, it could cause entrepreneurs to despair, stop taking smart risks and start relying on magic to increase their customer sales.
To avoid these negative practices and start making the most of slow customer sales periods, entrepreneurs can:
Research Market Trends – Pinpoint when customer sales started dropping off. Access market research reports to review market shifts and trends. Also, survey customers and measure their satisfaction with new policies, marketing efforts, purchasing procedures (e.g. online buying process) and company response rates to customer inquiries. When it comes to marketing efforts, customer sales may have slowed simply because customers feel entrepreneurs are sending them too many emails. A survey can help reveal what’s causing customers to stay away from the cash register.
Launch new products/services – New products and services keep customers returning. It happens in technology, fashion, arts and education fields. People like connecting with what’s “new”. Customer sales might have slowed simply because entrepreneurs haven’t launched a new product or service in several months or years.
Relocate – Just as consumer preferences for certain products change, neighborhoods also change. If crime and the numbers of business closings in areas where companies operate have increased, it might be time for these business owners to shop for new business locations. Of course, entrepreneurs could also band with other businesses and government leaders to rebuild the area, but this may take time and ongoing effort.
Industry Shifts – Believe it or not, door-to-door encyclopedia sales once were hot. The Internet has changed that. Today, people simply click to websites to research material that was once found in encyclopedias. Industry shifts can cause customer sales to slow as new markets start to emerge. Remember the book Who Moved My Cheese? Every industry experiences a shift. If entrepreneurs are in an industry that’s experiences a shift (e.g. printing, manufacturing) they might want to consider stepping into an emerging industry.
Slow customer sales are the last thing business owners want to see. However, it happens to all business and in all industries. Some causes for slow customer sales are internal (e.g. customer satisfaction) while other causes are external (industry shifts). The way a business responds to slow customer sales may determine how that business performs over the coming years.
You must be logged in to post a comment.