Are your sales coming up a little short these day? Retail sales, Internet commerce, and business-to-business suppliers are all having problems matching their stellar performances of previous years.

When economic times get tight, just about every business' sales slump.

Get a quick and lasting boost in sales by making your customers an offer they can't refuse. Customers will buy IF you give them a really good reason to. Of course, the tighter their budgets, the better the reason has to be.

Use Psychology

First, try to understand your customer's thoughts and desires. Most people have goals they are striving to reach. They may be trying to cut costs, spend less time on tasks, be more attractive, or simply find more excitement in life.

When your customer falls short of her goal--as almost all of us do from time to time--she may look for a purchase to move her further toward where she wants to be.

As an example, Sandra is frustrated with the growing complexity of her business. Last week she bounced a check and forgot to invoice a customer. The simple bookkeeping system she created when she started the business isn't able to keep up now that her business has grown.

On a trip to her neighborhood office supply store, Sandra sees an affordable accounting program. It promises to make quick work of all the things that are frustrating her. As Sandra picks up the box and heads to the checkout, she already FEELS like her life is more organized.

Psychologists call this important principle "reaction formation." It is a powerful motivation that influences a great deal of what we buy.

Think about the goals your customers probably have. How can your product, service, or idea help them feel like they are getting closer to their goal? While you are helping your client reach his objective, it is the fact that he FEELS like he is getting there that is so important.


Create a High-Value Bundle

If one product or service can solve a problem, imagine how well three, four, or five products could work. When you bundle together several related products or services, customers respond.

Look for items that work together to cover every angle of a problem on the job, at home, or in the customer's personal life.

A computer site might bundle software that prevents crashes, a second program that makes memory work more efficiently, and a virus protection program.

Billed as "fix crashes, avoid future problems, and make your computer run faster," the bundle could be priced low and placed on the opening web page and in print advertising.

Show the value the customer gets when she buys the items in a bundle rather than separately. Add up the total savings and promote them. Point out how the customer could use the money she saves.

NPR recently reported that studies have found that customers don't necessarily want the lowest price, they just want a fair price. Some retail chains feel they don't get results unless they offer at least a 50% price cut. Most businesses get sales with much smaller price reductions. Our customers are usually delighted if we can lower prices ten percent.

Perks and Time Limits

You can sweeten the offer by adding attractive perks. These are usually things you can buy or provide cheaply but have a high perceived value to customers.

We created a bonus where we write a classified ad and place it on a major site that gets millions of visitors. Customers love the service and it doesn't cost us much. Our professional writers create a classified ad quickly and we place them at low cost. The perk is an easy and effective way to round out the bundle and close lots of sales.

Give your high-value bundle a time limit. Customers are busy with thousands of advertising messages competing for their dollars. Unless you can give them a good reason to buy NOW, many will put off the purchase and forget about it.

Advertise that your bundle is only available for 24 hours, a week, a month, or until the end of the year. You may want to offer the same bundle over the long haul,but change the bonus items for time to time.

By combining these three principles you can create a quick and lasting boost in sales. Customer psychology, high-value bundles, and time limits work together to build excitement and traffic for your store, service, or web site.

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About the Author

Ron Sathoff and Kevin Nunley provide marketing advice, business writing, and promotion packages. See all their helpful tips and ideas at http://InternetWriters.com Reach them at mailto:[email protected] or 801-328- 9006.