What are you willing to do to get a new client? How much are you willing to spend?
If you were to think long-term, what would you be willing to invest today to get another client onto your recurring revenue support plan?
As I said last week, people respond really well to killer offers.
A perfect storm has happened over the last decade. The 2007 recession happened at the same time as internet shopping matured, and the big retailers entered permanent price wars to desperately try to maintain market share.
Have you heard of Amazon Prime Day? What about Black Friday? It’s been imported from America with no warning, and in previous years has caused fights to break out in British shops, as people jostled to get a “killer deal”.
All of this change been beneficial to the business owner, as well as the consumer. You can mostly get what you want, cheaper and more conveniently than ever before.
And it has left people – rich and poor – more motivated by a great deal, than they have ever been before.
People hate being sold to… but they love to buy!
So how do you capitalise on that within an IT support business?
Well, you need to apply some long-term thinking, and ask yourself some big questions:
- What is a new client worth to your business?
- What are they worth in the first transaction?
- What are they worth over the lifetime of their contract with you?
- What are you willing to spend to acquire that client?
- Do you think long-term enough with your marketing?
Then there is a 5 step process to create and execute a killer offer.
1) Grab people’s attention with a headline offer: 10% off doesn’t cut it. The more competitive your market place, the more remarkable it needs to be. So pile on the bonuses. Add exclusivity. And remember to promote just one thing at a time (multiple promotions in a single piece of marketing dilute the response rate).
2) Keep it simple: They’ve got to be able to absorb it in seconds. My local Chinese takeaway introduced free prawn crackers when you spend over £25. There’s a simple sign pinned to a shelf behind the counter, and the lady who takes your order mentions it if your bill falls short. I asked a few questions, and found it’s boosted their average spend from £23 to nearly £28, at a cost to them of just pennies. And I bet the customers who spend more are happier as well. Because people who choose to spend more tend to feel happy with that decision.
3) Demonstrate how safe you are: Apply some instant social proof (especially important within IT support). That means testimonials, case studies and reviews.
4) Use a genuine deadline: It’s not an offer without one. Limited to the first 20. Two weeks only. Limited supply. Use genuine scarcity if you can. And yes this means refreshing offers and changing things regularly. That’s not a bad thing. Running the same offers become stale for your staff. And when they are bored by an offer, they will stop communicating it with passion to your clients.
5) Ensure you make profit: You don’t want a cash flow crisis from a “too good to be true” deal. The goal is increased business and increased profits. Restaurants do this cleverly. The meals on their specials board are often the meals with the highest gross profits.
