With economic difficulties continuing worldwide, it’s more important than ever to improve profitability. The strategies for doing so haven’t changed, but it’s easy to let things slip through the cracks, and as a result many businesses don’t make nearly as much money as they could. Read on to find out if you’re letting your change fall between the couch cushions:
1. Cut Costs
It’s Business 101: if you have to spend less money, your profits will be bigger. There are many ways to do this without sacrificing quality – outsource to independent contractors or hire overseas, buy wholesale whenever possible, and examine every expense to make sure it’s absolutely necessary. Are you heating a room that’s never in use, or turning one into a freezer with overzealous air conditioning? Are you using outdated equipment that costs more in maintenance than a newer and better piece of machinery would? Do you have employees who spend half of their day surfing the Web because there’s no work available? These problems are often easy to fix, and the resulting reduction in costs can cause even a stagnant income to create skyrocketing profits.
2. Improve Relationships with Clients
It may not be true that it isn’t important what you know, but it certainly does matter who you know. If you have a wide network of happy and faithful clients, you’ll have a more secure income, and more word-of-mouth advertising will reach your target market.
One of the best ways to make your clients feel appreciated (and get in some extra advertising at the same time) is to use branded products as corporate gifts. These don’t have to be incredibly expensive – but they should be useful and attractive. Promotional items like custom stubby holders and USB drives are great for this purpose. Be sure to send your clients personalised messages as well.
3. Leverage Your Clients
Happy clients can be your best source of new leads. Never hesitate to ask your clients to tell their friends, colleagues, and associated businesses about you. Yet while small reminders and requests can be helpful for this purpose, they only occasionally get a client to actually act. What’s far more likely to get results is a rewards system: if a client refers a new customer, they get benefits. Whether it’s in the form of gifts, discounts, or even cash, it will motivate your clients to go out and spread the word. Soon, they’ll be your most effective and convincing marketing force, offering enthusiastic testimonials to the people who are most likely to listen. Is there any better way to start a business relationship than from a referral from a happy customer?
4. Don’t Ignore Print Advertising
Many companies are starting to sacrifice print advertising in favor of advertising online. While online ads are extremely powerful and every company should strive for a powerful Web presence, the internet is a fickle thing, and huge investments of time and money can become useless overnight due to a search engine update, a change in keyword trends, or a software crash. On the other hand, print advertising will almost always stay exactly where you want it, and you can count on it to be seen by certain people in certain places. It’s also important to keep in mind that generally, internet users will simply be trying to get past your ad as fast as possible to find what they want, while it’s almost impossible for someone standing in a line not to look at an attractive poster.
Cut costs, improve and profit from relationships, and expand advertising efforts, and soon you’ll see those charts trending the way you want them to.