Your clients are booking fewer treatments, those showing up are spending less, your weekly cash income is going down, you have mortgage and rent payments to make and costs are going up. You’re seriously worried about whether your business will survive 2009. Stop worrying and start planning your survival strategy. Worrying only confuses your mind and prevents you from clearly acting on well thought out plans.
At a time like this, you might be wondering how on earth I’m going to get customers to throw their money at me. (Well, visual thinking is quite fun if done literally) Right now, everyone is looking for how they can stretch pennies. They still want high-value service at competitive prices.
Everyone hasn’t stopped spending, they’re just a lot more careful and the business that grabs their attention with a witty, strong, honest and effective message will win their clientele.
If you do the same old thing, you will get the same old results. So it’s time to get creative.
I’ll just give you a few tips, but the real benefit is signing up for our 5 plan crash course on ‘Getting More Clients’ from our website.
1. Change your attitude and way of thinking. If you constantly feel guilty that a regular customer or a new customer must also be experiencing the credit crisis, then you are entering the negative cycle that will prevent you from being creative and productive.
2. Change the expression on your face. When you see someone who seems to have a “faraway look,” or who seems “troubled” and isn’t in her usual immaculate and cheerful frame of mind, you can always begin your sentence with “Are you feeling okay?” “You seem worried…” You have immediately invited a conversation based on negative experiences, trampled emotions that will plunge both parties into a downward spiral of self-pity.
If a sales rep came along and tried to sell you something in that frame of mind, would you buy from him simply because you “feel sorry for him”? NO, he wouldn’t and neither will any of his potential clients.
3. Remind yourself and evaluate your approach to your customers. Are you using a CARROT OR STICK approach? Most people like the CARROT approach because it is pleasurable and will avoid the pain of the STICK approach of spending more money without seeing any added value. When was the last time you ran up to someone with a STICK so they could hit you?
4. Increase your personal impact. This is a combination of things like diet, exercise, personal development, networking with like-minded people, changing your appearance, writing articles. All of this will help stimulate their mental attitude and keep them positive. Never complain in front of a bunch of clients, encourage them to come up with suggestions and ideas that will benefit all parties.
5. Get FREE courses and reports that can help you understand the current environment and stimulate new ideas in your business.
6. Book yourself into one-day workshops that are practical, informative and with the opportunity to network. Don’t break the bank, but sometimes owner managers forget to invest in keeping their own knowledge base up to date.
If you would like to enroll in our FREE 5-PART INTENSIVE COURSE on ‘HOW TO GET MORE CUSTOMERS’, please visit our website and fill out the form on the home page. There is no catch, but you will be able to implement some of the ideas immediately at a very low cost. Visit www.ukacademyofbeauty.com [http://www.ukacademyofbeauty.com].