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How do businesses drive attention to their store front in a service based business?

My instant cosmetic teeth whitening business is located 1/2 a block away from the hustle and bustle of King St. (Charleston's mini Rodeo Dr.) I have partnered with a salon that does hair and nails. How can I drive my own traffic to this salon with face to face sales tactics? Not just social media?

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Hey

I would recomand doing free trying days where you rent a space on a big market or a mall then give 4-5 free simples/trying and distribut some coupon that give % reduction to maybe arround 100 person ? make it like a small competition ? you need to make directe contact with them before they make contact with you.

I hope it help.

Report Zoubaier's answer

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Hi Kamden - 

I would think about customers in two different broad categories, those who are specifically looking for teeth whitening, and those who may not be, but would be inclined to if it was advertised to them. What have your customers been historically?  I think you would consider slightly different marketing strategies for each.  

For the first, those who are seeking it out, think about where customers would go to research teeth whitening.  Google, word of mouth, professional advice (dentist?).  Where do you rank in Google when searching for "teeth whitening Charleston" or similar terms?  Do dentists all offer competiting services?  For those who don't, get to know those dentists and see if you could leave a stack of brochures there.

The second type of customer is harder to identify - those who aren't seeking it out, but would consider it if it was advertised to them.  Think about similarities among your current customers.  Are they of a similar demographic?  Age, gender, income, other interests or hobbies?  Think about what else they do with their time, and maybe you will find some less obvious connections.  Maybe they are also likely to get massages, or do yoga.  If so, consider offering a discount to customers or one of those businesses.  I would guess your customers have some disposable income, so think about the main employers in Charleston and offer discounts/trials to their employees.

Most importantly, make sure your existing customer's leave happy and satisfied, because referrals and word of mouth may be your advertisement.

Hope that helps!

John

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Develop a marketing plan. Here are some tips:

TASTE, TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGY What does your research indicate is the trend in your field? Will it stay the way you are currently offering supplies and services or will it change? This item covers the developments you expect for the next few years. Evan a 'perfect' business can become obsolete overnight due to future developments. Specify a 5 year forecast of your field in your area.

SALES REVENUE FORECAST Have you developed these targets? This section shows your estimates of future sales revenue for your business. Your strategic plan, needs to spell out the specific actions you will take to achieve your forecast sales revenues.

DIFFERENTIATE YOUR BUSINESS FROM THE COMPETITION How does your business differ from the competition's strong and weak points. Again, remember to carefully look at your business from the customer's perspective. If you're not sure how your pricing policies compare to the competition, here are some guidelines. Most people associate high prices with high quality and extra service, while they associate low prices with low or average quality and minimum service. Make sure you provide extra quality and service if your prices are higher than your competition or make sure that your prices are lower if your quality is average and your service is minimum.

DECIDE HOW TO REACH CUSTOMERS Once you describe your target customer, it's easier to create a list of possible ways to reach that person. One of your jobs as a businessperson is to decide which of all the possible methods of communication will give you the most exposure for the least cost in money or time.

EVALUATE THE RISKS FACING YOUR BUSINESS

COMPETITION: Most businesses have competition. How will your business differ in significant and positive ways from your competition? If your competition is strong, don't minimize that fact, but figure out ways you will adjust to or use that strength. For example, if you plan to open a restaurant next to an extremely popular one, part of your strategy might be to cater to the overflow. Another might be to open on days or evenings when the other restaurant is closed.

PIONEERING: If you anticipate no direct competition, your business probably involves selling a new product or service, or one that is new to your area. How will you avoid going broke trying to develop a market?

CYCLES AND TRENDS: Many businesses have cycles of growth and decline often based on outside factors such as taste, trends or technology. What is your forecast of the cycles and trends in your business? For example, if your forecast tells you that the new electronic product you plan to manufacture may decline in three years when the market is saturated, can you earn enough money in the meantime to make the venture worthwhile?

SLOW TIMES: Every business experiences ups and downs. Is your business small and simple enough, or capitalized adequately enough, to ride out slow times? Or do you have some other strategy, such as staying open long hours in the busy season and closing during times of the year when business is slow.

OWNERS EXPERTISE: Nobody knows everything. How do you plan to compensate for the knowledge you're short on?

Write your risk analysis by first thinking of the main dangers your business faces. This shouldn't be hard, as you have probably been concerned about them for some time. Some of these may be on the list set out above; others will be unique to your business. Once you have identified the principal risks facing your business, write out a plan to counter each. But don't bog yourself down worrying about all sorts of unlikely disasters.

Report Kenneth's answer

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Since you asked about face to face sales tactics, I will focus on that specifically even though there are several things you can do online, with social media, and with direct mail that are likely to give you a great return on investment.

Be Prepared.

Have stats related to teeth whitening that are interesting or shocking. For instance, " recent study revealed that when presented with 2 identical photos except one that had their teeth whitened and one that did not, 76% of the people indicated that they would be more likely to do business with the one with whiter teeth"...just made this one up but their are many studies out there you could us.

know the benefits to person. know the questions most people ask. Make a list of the concerns most people express or ones they feel but do not express. Identifiy the demo graphics of those morst likely to use your service - where do they go? what do they read? is image important to them? What organizations are they involved with in the community?

I would recommend marketing 1 to many when possible - meaning speak to groups, have a table at relevant events or sponsor events.

Who would most benefit from teeth whitening? People involved in sales who smoke, drink tea, or coffee. People active in the community, politicians, people who think or know image is important. Your sales and marketing efforts should be designed to reach those most receptive to and disireous of the benefits of teeth whitening.

Create a customer referral marketing plan to actively generate referrals form satisfied customers.

FYI. you may want set up a google places page to get a prescence on page 1 of google search ( you are on page 2 behind many dentists - you may want to position yourself as the better alternative than going to the dentist for it. Videos are hugely helpful and if done right could get you a frontpage rank listing very quickly. consider add tracking and some lead cpature to your website by giving something of value to the visitor.

Just some things of the top of my head to consider. Things that have worked for my current and past clients. Best of luck.

Thomas

 

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