Ok, so you’re going through a quiet patch and don’t have many jobs booked in for a particular day or week.
You could book a green at the golf course, or you could use your existing customer data to help fill your schedule.
Reach out to your existing customer base
Depending on the type of business you are in the offer and implementation will differ, yet the principles are the same.
At the most basic level you can contact your customers to let them know there are still a few appointments available on a particular day or week, so if they’ve been meaning to book now is a good time.
Taking this a step further you may be able to tell from your customer data who is due for a return visit or repeat service and target the communication at them.
Offer an incentive
You could also offer your customers an incentive to book at a particular time by offering them a free upsell or a discount for the service.
Expanding your customer base
Another option to target more recent customers could be to offer them a ‘refer a friend’ special to help fill your calendar where the referrer and/or friend receive a gift or incentive.
To make this offer even more attractive you could also offer the referrer a bonus if their friend books an appointment. One option would be to offer them a money-off voucher for example.
Although a number of retailers and small business owners are reluctant to offer a discount rather than a value-add service or incentive, offering an in-store cash voucher achieved significant return on investment for Super Cheap Auto.
Super Retail Group Marketing and Communications General Manager Kevin McAulay revealed to Franchise Marketing Forum delegates, a cash voucher offered as part of the brand’s VIP program had been highly successful.
Research revealed their customers would come in to store, go directly to the item they needed and then leave, sometimes returning several times within a day.
When they received an in-store credit voucher they started browsing the store, and generally spent much more than the voucher value.
Rather than buying a $10 dollar torch with the voucher, they would buy the $40 torch for example and spend well over the value of the initial voucher.
So sometimes offering in-store vouchers can pay off.
The flip side of this is when your discount or offer only attracts low paying customers who will only purchase at a discount and will not be a loyal customer.
At the end of the day, it really depends on your own business.
The offers and incentives which deliver the most value for your business may be completely different to the examples provided above.
Just as every franchise is different, so are the different customer segments, however if you have gaps in your job list it’s worth experimenting to see which works for you.
Get it done today!