How a field trip can improve your retail or restaurant business!

5 ideas to make Small Business Saturday your day!

Locally owned businesses are hot! Thanks to a decade of shop small messages, consumers are better understanding the positive impact shopping small can have on their community.  

You can capitalize on the momentum by actively participating in Small Business Saturday. 

According to the 2018 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, produced by American Express and NFIB, 104 million shoppers spent a record high of $17.8 billion on Small Business Saturday last year. But there’s an even more important reason than one days sales for making this “holiday” your own. According to a survey by Reliant Funding, a staggering 83 percent of customers say that Small Business Saturday encourages them to support a local business year-round.

So if you’re a locally owned retail or restaurant, stay out of the Black Friday fray and go all in on November 30th on the holiday designed just for you!

1.  Start here
Go to the American Express website to claim your free collateral and business listing. https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/studio?intlink=us-mer-sbrc-sbs-studio

2.  Create special offers designed to bring customer in – and return.
Deep discounts aren’t always in the best interest of small businesses so create innovative opportunities designed to get customers in for the event AND bring them back again on a later date.

• For every $100 you spend get a $20 gift certificate to use later.

• Triple rewards points to your loyalty members (and anyone who signs on)
  on Small Business Saturday.

• Restaurant -purchase a meal and receive a gift certificate for use on your next visit.

• Salon/spa - Pre-book your December appointment and get a free blowout or mini massage in January.

• A free gift with purchase.

• Make a charitable donation for every purchase

• Free service with purchase (for example, if a customers buys $250 in
  clothing, they can make an appointment to come back in for a free styling session.

If you do want to discount, think about limiting sales to certain items or category or items or certain day parts. Remember, you don’t have to put your entire store on sale or compete with Walmart to be successful. Create offers that resonate with your customers and make your store stand out!

3.  Make it a special day

Make Small Business Saturday and festive and fun experience. Offer hourly raffles or deals, entertainment, and refreshments. Hide a toy or small gifts inside your store for visitors to find. Show off your personality and your store far beyond the price tags.

4.  Promote

Promote big and promote often!  Post your event on your website, send multiple emails to your database and post on social media. Change your Facebook header to a Small Business Saturday message. Create a Facebook event so people can show interest. Use plenty of in-store signage. Let people know your store or restaurant is THE place to be on Small Business Saturday.

And most importantly, deliver your personal backstory. Let people know more about you, your commitment to the community and why you love what you do. It helps customers feel good about buying from you.

5.  Collaborate and co-promote
If your center has a number of locally-owned businesses, pull them together to make a bigger impact by cross-promoting the entire group of small businesses ready, willing and able to service customers on Small Business Saturday.

November 30th is your opportunity to bring your small business front and center as an important part of the community and one people can feel good about patronizing!

Until next time, remember…
You can do this!

Angel

How a field trip can improve your retail or restaurant business!

How to get "unstuck"

The daily routine of running a small retail store or restaurant can lead owners into to a serious rut where the flow of ideas just stop! That can be pretty scary place because new ideas are the heartbeat of small business. It's always a good idea to learn how to recognize when you're stuck and have a plan to get the juices flowing again.

Here's one of my favorite tips from my Ebook, "15 Ways to Get Unstuck." 
Get your free copy. bit.ly/15waystogetunstuck

How to Increase Gift Card Sales During the Holiday Season

Gift cards have been the most popular gift for the past 5 years. That’s a pretty great reason to put a plan in place to accelerate your gift card sales this holiday season, no matter what type of business you own!

7 Compelling Facts About Gift Card Sales:

Need more reasons why gift cards are a great way to boost holiday sales? Here are seven compelling facts that will help convince you.

• Gift cards sales were projected to increase by 6% in 2016 and will account for over 18% of holiday sales!
• Two-thirds of consumers have purchased at least one gift card.
• Retailers who switch from paper to plastic cards typically see a 50-100% increase in sales.
• The average amount loaded on a digital gift card is 10-15% more than a plastic gift card.
• 61% of gift card holders spend more than the amount of their gift card and 75% of those who overspend spend 60% more than the value of their card.
• Gift cards are most popular with teenagers.
• 40% of gift card recipients do not use the total value of the card.

As you can see, gift cards can significantly increase your bottom line in December and beyond so their promotion and sale are well worth your attention.

4 Tips for Boosting Gift Card Sales

Here are a few tips for selling more cards:

Start with plenty of in-store promotion.

• Signage - interior, window and sandwich boards
• Flyers with purchase
• Train employees to ask for the sale. For example, "Would you like to purchase a gift card for a friend or family member?"

Create incentives for gift card purchase.

For example, customers can get a $20 gift certificate for themselves with the purchase of a $100 card. 

Hint: If your average sale is about $150, then the incentive should be given on gift card sale of $200 – increasing your average sale!

Capture the late shoppers.

More than one in every four digital or online cards sold in December are sold between December 21st and 24th. Email daily during week before Christmas.

Make it easy to purchase.

Even if you don't sell online, create a link to pay for gift cards through a Paypal account to use in your email and on your website and social media. 

Set a goal for gift card sales this holiday season and create a strategy to achieve it. 
Gift cards can not only help you make this a more profitable holiday, they can give you momentum going into the new year!

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My book, Growing Small, provides even more ideas and tips for achieving retail success in 90 days with limited time and resources. Download two free chapters to get a sneak peek inside!

One easy way to get your staff in the spirit to sell more this holiday season

Looking for ways to get your staff pumped this holiday season?  I know one surefire way to light a fire under them….and that’s to pay them!

       Even if money is tight, there are ways to incentivize staff for selling more without                     being a drain on cashflow or margins.

       Even if you don’t ordinarily have a bonus program, there’s no reason not to implement
one just for the holiday season.

Most retailers earn 20-30 percent of their annual revenue during the holidays.  This is the time of year you want to maximize every single sales opportunity! And incentives are a great way to motivate staff.

Here are some DO’S and DONT’S for setting up a successful bonus program.

DO
Understand what motivates your staff. What makes them drool? Depending on their age and tenure, it might be time off or perks like merchandise or gift certificates. It doesn’t always have to be money.  

DON’T
Just offer a blanket reward on all items sold. A bonus program needs to work on both sides. That means your employees get incentivized for meeting their goals – and yours!

Let’s say for example, last year's holiday sales were $100,000 and your goal is to increase that number by 20 percent this year to $120k. Your staff incentives should be based on achieving or exceeding this year’s goal. That way any additional commission or bonus you’re awarding is coming out of new revenue.

DO
Consider segmenting
Let’s say you’d like to grow sales for a new line or service. Perhaps you’d like to increase average sale. You can create a bonus program around any specific segment of business you’d like!

DO
Tier the bonus structure. Add even more delicious opportunity for your staff after they’ve hit the goal. Using the example above with a goal of $120k, add an additional incentive if you reach $130k. In sales, we call that a BHAG (Big hairy Audacious Goal.) You’d be amazed at the enthusiasm you can generate around a big, fat opportunity.

DO
Train. Train. Train.
Just implementing a program isn’t enough. You need to host regular training to help your staff achieve their goals.

DON’T
Be afraid to instill a little competition among your staff. Most owners I work with are afraid that competition is divisive but it can create a ton of energy and ultimately, great results!

DO
Make sure your goals are reasonable and achievable. Goals should be a stretch but not so stratospheric that they can’t possibly be met. Shooting too high will only discourage your staff. 

Good luck in putting together your bonus program! If you have any questions, email me at success@angelcicerone.com

Until next time remember,
You can do this!
Angel