Connect on social media sites like Facebook.  Take a lesson from business models such as Starbucks with more than 7 million fans/followers. Study them and model the behavior that you know will benefit your own fan-base. That can include offering exclusive Facebook Discounts, contests and more.

Introduce people to each other. Make profitable connections for others and in turn they are likely to do the same for you. Be a people/business connector

Blog. Did I mention to blog? Blog is both a noun and a verb. A blog is an online journal and to blog is to create/submit content to a blog. Smart marketers have their own blogs AND blog on other blog sites that cater to the same demographic or target audience.

Look for potential referral partners. This is more than the introduction mentioned above. Find people to strategically partner with specifically for the purpose of referring one another business.

Do these five things to connect, communicate with your target audience and referral partners and you WILL close more sales.

There is no question that the past two years have been challenging for many people in business. However, there are businesses who even in a tough economy seem to thrive.  They do this because they follow the simple principles of buying and selling that have served companies well for years and years.

They know that in order to stay in business they have to do certain things well and consistently.  Here are 3 tips successful companies use to increase business in a challenging economy and in any economy:

1. Increase the number of clients, customers, members, players, guests.

2. Find ways to get customers to buy more per transaction.

3. Get customers to buy more often.

Each of these things can be accomplished if you do the following three things:

Train your staff how to sell! Here’s a book that can help: FREE Ebook
Increase Sales Productivity: http://www.smartsellingtools.com/2010salesproductivity.pdf

Find different ways to connect with customers and connect more often.

Create a Loyalty Program to reward customers and clients for frequent purchases made.

With a little ingenuity and foresight you can create more value for customers while increasing your bottom line.

Your Champions are clients, customers, vendors and anyone familiar with your service that are simply ecstatic about what you do. They are the ones who tell everyone to use your service. In fact, they will call potential customers on your behalf to tell them about you. Ask your Champions for the names of their contacts that have events or occasions coming up. Send those contacts a note, introducing you to them. Include your business cards, a testimonial letter, and an offer. The offer could be to set up an appointment to meet, or a discount on your initial consultation.

Your Fans are those who do business with you, but would not think about referring your services on their own. They need a little encouragement. Ask them if they know of anyone else who is having an event that could use your service. Tell them you would like to contact those people to offer your services to them. Most of the time they are happy to help you out. They just wouldn’t think of it themselves.

• Send greeting cards for all special events listed on the information cards previously filled out by attendees. Retailers might want to include a note for the recipient to stop by for the 25-cent tour and a small gift.  I use SendOutCards for all my client appreciation programs. It is simple, automated, time-saving and perfect for my fast paced life. You can actually go to SendOutCards.com/Heidi and grab a FREE card of your own to try it out. Go ahead, its on me!

• Send postcards a few weeks before each holiday or event listed offering a free consultation on other services you provide, discounts on purchases, or some other promotional item. It is important to keep you at the ‘top of their mind’ when they might be planning another event or know someone who is.  You can also use SendOutCards.com/heidi to create first-class postcards that will keep you top of mind with any and all referral sources. Here is a postcard I created that people tell me they keep long after they receive it.  It is fun, kinda quirky and oh by the way, is me at 4 years old!  With SendOutCards you can custom create your own look  with your own pictures and graphics as you can see from this example.

• Fax or mail ideas for events two or three months prior to their corporate, or milestone events. Offer a special consultation rate to help them plan a successful event.

• Stay in contact with them using the information they provided under interests. If their hobby is growing orchids, and you see an article for an orchid or exotic plant show, cut it out and mail it to them. They will be impressed that you took the time to send it. In fact, they probably won’t remember the information cards and may even wonder how you knew. It could lead to a phone call, worthwhile conversation and more events.

• If you see your clients and others listed on your information cards ‘in the news’ cut it out, and send it to them along with a Congratulations or Good News Travels Fast note.
The Little Extra’s Can Bring Big Results!

• If your client has a business that you can promote, Promote It! Hand out the client’s business cards, keep a stack of them on hand to give to others when the opportunity arises. I cross promote with many of the people who do business with me and this has grown my referral business more than simply doing a great job.

• Include photos with letters to clients and vendors.
 
• Keep your database current, adding and deleting as necessary. You wouldn’t want to send the assistant a note, if the assistant is no longer with your client. It might just offend the person who replaced him/her and it would certainly make you look unprofessional.
 
• Maintain good records of each event. If you hear from a client 3 years from now, you can show your skills when you review their previous event. Include in those records what went wrong, and what needed to be improved. Include photos and samples of décor, activities and anything that will help expand your portfolio. Be sure to ask permission of your client to use these in your promotional materials.

If you follow the above advice, you will not only survive, you will thrive in your endeavors. The domino effect will happen. You will be known as a caring professional, one that is in it for the benefit of all concerned and not just in it for the business!

To your success… and then some,

Heidi