Promotions Must Make Business Sense
Yesterday, we discussed how to identify the holiday promotions that fit for your clients. Just as important as knowing who your clients are and what makes them happy, is ensuring your promotions make business sense.
Identifying products and services that make sense for your clients is a great starting point, but the decision process doesn’t end there. It’s important to not only consider products and services that appeal to your clients, but also products that will bring the most value to your business.
Here are four questions to guide you through creating holiday promotions that will both appeal to your clients and provide value to your business:
- What resources do you need in order to provide these promotions to your clients? For you to be able to provide any holiday promotions to your clients, you must have the necessary time, money, and tools. Each product and service requires different resources. Individually examine each product and service that you’ve identified as appealing to your clients. Then, ask yourself these key questions:
- How much time do you need for production? Is it realistic to fit this production time into your normal workload? Can you provide a quality product or service in the amount of time you have available?
- Do you need to outsource any part of the product workflow? Do you have a quality vendor to outsource to? What are the costs to outsource? Considering the cost of outsourcing, is the product still profitable for you to offer?
- How do these products and services provide value to your business? Holiday promotions are more than simply a way to make more money. Promotions are another way to provide an unforgettable experience to existing clients so they remain loyal evangelists. Promotions are also a great way to connect with potential clients and generate more referrals and word-of-mouth buzz!
- What products and services can you offer that will help you generate referrals?
- What products or services will reinforce previous clients’ loyalty to you or encourage new clients to check you out?
- Are these product and service promotions profitable? Whether you specifically choose products that generate referrals or appeal to loyal past clients, it’s important that all products and services you offer are profitable. While some particular promotions may not yield a large profit, it’s critical that you don’t lose money on what you’re offering. Before offering products and services, be sure to set a price for each product or service that covers your costs and provides enough profit to make the production worth your time.
- What will it cost to provide this product or service to my clients?
- How much can I realistically charge?
- Based on what I think I can charge for this promotion, is it worth the time and cost involved?
- Are these product and service promotions scalable? Consider whether the promotions you’ll be offering are scalable. Will the systems you have in place support the production workload, regardless of whether you have 10 orders or 100 orders? To ensure that they’re scalable, you may need to outsource product production, hire additional in-house help, or limit the number of orders you accept. Whatever system you choose, it’s critical that it’s sustainable, regardless of your workload!
- How much time is involved in production of the promotions I’d like to offer?
- Can I handle the production for these promotions, regardless of whether I get more orders than I expect?
- hat safeguards should I have in place to ensure that I can fulfill every order I receive? Outsourcing, hiring additional help, or limiting the number of accepted orders?
Now that you’ve answered these questions, revisit potential holiday promotions you’d like to offer and make sure that they provide value to your clients and also benefit your business. Make sure to check out Part 3 tomorrow!
This article was originally published in The Photo Life Dispatch, Your Holiday Sales Guide. Check it out for more practical tips to help guide you through the holiday season.