Using Secret Sales To Build Customer Value And Market Your Small Business

One of the most overlooked assets any business has to boost sales in their small business is their existing customer base. How many businesses do you buy from that you never hear from again until you actually contact them to reorder that product again?

As a small business owner, it's your responsibility to keep in touch with your customers and prospects in order to make sure that they don't forget about you and end up buying from your competitor the next time they have a need.

One of the best ways to keep in touch with those customers is to have a secret closed door sale just for them. It makes them feel special and it gives you extra kudos for going out of your way just for them. This type of customer appreciation will go a long way to building your relationship and loyalty with your customers.

Remember that that there are only three ways to increase sales in any small business.

1. Increase your customer list.


2. Increase the dollar amount your customer spends each time with you


3. Or increase the number of times that customer buys from you

Instead of always focusing on just getting new customers like the rest of the other businesses out there, spend a little time working on the existing customers you have. They are much easier to sell to again as long as you are consistent on providing a great service.

What if you could hold a secret sale just for your existing customers? You could offer larger than usual discounts just for those people. Not only will you get them to come back but you are building the additional loyalty because of the special offer that is exclusive to just them.

People like to be part of an exclusive club or community. It makes them feel like they are part of something. It ties to basic human emotion. People want to be part of a special group. Your special sale will promote that and cater to their personal needs.

When thinking about your special secret sale, there are a couple of things that you should keep in mind when setting it up.

First off, don't be cheap. Obviously, you need to make a profit in order to stay successful but make the discounts on this sale much larger than you would normally offer. You are still going to make a profit that you might not have got without the sale at all and you are building your relationship with your customer at the same time. Keep in mind that your existing customers will be your best marketing tool for both repeat business and for referrals to their friends and family that might need your services too. You want to make sure that you keep them happy.

The second thing you should do is make your sale an event. Don't just send out an email or a single flyer about the event. Promote it like a big event. Send your customers VIP Pass promotional postcards or even design something for your email that they need to print out as an exclusive VIP pass. This enhances the experience for them and lets them know that this is something you did just to tell them that you appreciate their business and want to keep them happy. Happy customers talk more about your products than indifferent ones do.

You don't have to run a secret sale only once a year either. You can do it a couple of times a year. Just be sure to theme your sale to something special and you'll get better results from the event. Most businesses will do a sale during the holidays because it's such a popular time and everyone is looking for a sales during that time of year. You could do something different and get a large group of people that will remember you for it.

I've done Halloween sales before that were a huge hit. Why? Because that's my favorite holiday and it really stood out since no one else in our industry ever does a Halloween sale. Other small businesses marketing in my industry missed the boat since I had my sale a month before they even thought about theirs.

Be creative. Find odd holidays that you can use to help promote your sale and give it a reason why other than “just because”. Just be sure to keep it exclusive to your customers and make it a big deal that is reserved just for them because of your loyalty to them. Show them how much you appreciate them as customers and build that relationship. When you are looking at marketing your small business, you need to be ahead of the competition and look for new ideas and strategies to add to to your marketing mix.