1. Devise and implement your up-selling/cross-selling strategy.

2. Segment your customers to increase the relevance of your proposition.

3. Set a target spending level for your customers.

   i. Work out how much your best customers spend.

   ii. Use this figure as a target level for other customer segments.

   iii. Understand why these other segments aren’t spending at the same level. (Using research?)

   iv. Construct an incentive programme, or add value in some other way, to boost their spending to the same level.

   v. Test different means of encouraging them to raise their purchase levels (see some examples on this page).

   vi. Make sure that whatever you do is done fairly, so you don’t receive complaints, and lose loyal customers.

4. Supply customers with multi-channel options.

   Can you sell through a combination of online, high street, mail order and telemarketing channels?

   ‘Multi-channel consumers’, on average, spend nearly twice as much as their single channel counterparts, and are more likely to buy from businesses with multi-channel options.

5. Give customers a reason to buy now. For example:

   • Use seasonal incentives/added value.

   • Offer a limited edition quantity of the product for a limited period only.

   • Use special offers/deals/discounts with an imminent closing date.

6. Review/test/change your pricing strategy.

   Consider which of these 14 options you should research/test/trial.

7. Give them a reason to buy more. For example:

   • Offer volume discounts.

   • Offer a greater quantity for only a slightly higher price.

   • Suggest that they spend £ X to get a discount (now/next time they buy?) off another purchase. (Put an expiry date on this offer)

   • Offer highly competitively priced ‘bundles’ of related products.

   • Include discounted or free offers within the bundle.

   • Supply customers with discount coupons (mobile coupons)

   • Consider including, for example, a bounce-back promotion or a collectable gift with purchase, or a collectable free mail-in.

8. Get your timing right.

   • When is the best time to pitch your offer/proposition?

   • Is the buyer more likely to buy, upgrade during a particular season?

   • Will they have a budget at one time of the year and not another?

   • When during the month will there be most cash flow/disposable income?

   • Is the day of the week relevant?

1. Give your customers reason after reason to keep coming back.

   Brainstorm how you should do this (see the Training Modules in the column, opposite).

2. Increase your team’s sales skills.

   There’s a million books on this subject, and even more online guides. Here’s some examples of the free guidance that you get online:

   • How to up-sell.

   • How to improve your sales.

   • How to close the sale.

3. Celebrate success and motivate/reward your sales team.

   Companies usually throw a party when somebody leaves, but usually don’t when they previously achieved a big sale or got a positive endorsement from a key account customer. It should surely be the other way around.

4. Reward customer’s loyalty

   • Offer a relevant, targeted discount coupon off their next purchase.

   • Consider offering them a free offer-with-purcase, a self-liquidating premium or a free mail in.

   • Reward loyal customers who refer you to friends and family (See member-get-member).

1. Reactivate previous customers.

   Contacting this audience database will almost certainly prove to be profitable.

2. Increase the number of customer referrals

   The best way to do this is to ask. Incentivise if you have to (this will usually pay back handsomely).

3. Make is easier for customers to buy.

   • Let them spread the cost (see more in this section on pricing strategy).

   • Offer a range of payment options (credit card, direct debit, etc).

   • Give them different ways to buy (see multi-channel options, above).

4. Use marketing more productively. Examples include:

   • Test the ROI from PPC/paid search and Search Engine Optimisation.

   • Test the ROI of a Direct Mail campaign, with an Email follow-up (as the response device) with Telemarketing, in turn, to follow this up.

   • Exploit joint promotions/partnerships.

   • Consider using online affiliates.

   • Communicate regularly with your customer base using, for example, an emailed newsletter.

5. Exploit the word-of-mouth promotion of your business. For example by:

   • Face-to-face advocacy.

   • Press articles and other PR activity.

Note. Any sales technique used to increase customer spend must be clearly beneficial to your customer base, and only incidentally beneficial to you.