How to Increase Sales Without Spending a Fortune

Every business needs to advertise, but not every business has a huge advertising budget. While outdoor signs in general are far more cost-effective than virtually any other form of advertising, a top-of-the-line LED sign might be more than what the smaller business needs. Outdoor Signs America offers a variety of affordable yet durable signage solutions, allowing literally any business to increase its visibility and inform prospective patrons of its latest offerings. With our economy signs and a few simple strategies, you can build brand and product awareness and drive repeat business without breaking the bank.

You’re probably already aware of the impact that signs can have on sales. While consumers are increasingly tailoring their content and being exposed to fewer ads, outdoor business signs continue to be highly effective while offering you, the business owner, complete control over your message and how often it’s updated—all at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising.

Attract New Customers with New Signs

Even the smallest of businesses can afford, and benefit from, added or updated signage. A University of San Diego study found that “the addition of even one on-premise sign resulted in an increase in annual sales of 4.75%.” What kind you choose will depend on what kind of business you are and of course where you are. If people are passing by on foot, a sidewalk sign may be all you need. To add movement to your message and attract the eyes of passersby, programmable LED signs are ideal and still well within the budget of any small business.

Engage Existing Customers by Building Relationships

This is where the small business has a particular advantage. When you’re a mom-and-pop operation, getting to know each and every customer—and his or her buying habits—is actually a possibility. Play to this strength: Leverage what you know, and what you can find out, at every opportunity.

Get to know your customers. Make an effort to interact with customers as often as possible. Learn their names and a couple of facts about them, and remember what they tend to buy. People love patronizing places where they feel like more than just a number. Personalize offers across every channel—in store, online, and by mail—whenever you can. And of course, always be friendly, no matter what.

Reward your best ones. Identify your top customers and give them more. Offer VIPs special promotions, incentives, or exclusive access to new products and services to encourage them to come back more often and spend more each time. 

Ask for reviews and/or referrals. When you serve your customers well, not only will they patronize your business more often, but they’ll also be more likely to people about it. Superior customer service tends to generate word of mouth, both in person and online. Offer a small incentive to get satisfied customers to give a testimonial.

Ask for feedback. If you’re not doing a good job, you want to know about it rather than risk losing more customers. Have customers complete surveys, submit suggestions, and even encourage them to communicate with staff directly if something is not up to snuff. Apologize and do whatever you can to rectify the situation.

Make use of social media. Everyone’s online these days and you should be too. It costs you nothing, other than time, and could net you new business from people who live nearby. These are the customers most likely to come back repeatedly if they have a good experience—and the ones most likely to share their opinions online. Hold in-store promotions with an online/social media component so you can stay in touch with your customer base. If you do nothing else, at least establish a presence on Facebook and Yelp.

While these simple strategies are important to increasing your bottom line, serving your customers better makes your everyday business better as a whole. Spending as much time as we do at work, why not make those hours more enjoyable? Seeing a more lively store and having pleasant interactions with people is ultimately rewarding for you, too.