Winning strategies to boost post holiday sales
Even though you’re right in the middle of the holiday sales frenzy, now’s also the time to plan your Q1 sales strategy. Q1 may not rival Q4, but you can surpass last year’s Q1 sales by implementing a well-thought-out game plan to avoid those sales slump blues.
7 Tips to Increase Sales and Avoid a Sales Slump During Q1
Tip 1: Sweeten the deal to bring ’em back
You want your customers to come back during Q1. So, start right planting seeds by planning an immediate post holiday sale to offer incentives to shop in January.
With every purchase, hand out coupons or dollars-off for every-X-dollars-spent coupons. Add a small flier about BOGOs and bulk-buy discounts coming up. Just make it clear these deals are only good for the first month or two of the new year.
Increase sales by offering incentives to come back.
Tip 2. Hold more sales!
Don’t settle for just a single after-Christmas sale. The first four months of the year have a lot of holidays and events around which you can build special promotions:
- Martin Luther King Jr. day
- Chinese New Year
- Groundhog Day
- Super Bowl
- Valentine’s Day
- President’s Day
- Mardi Gras
- Daylight Saving Time starts
- St. Patrick’s Day
- March Equinox
- April Fool’s Day
- Easter
- Tax Day
- Earth Day
Cities, states, and municipalities may also have their own unique celebration days. Also check the National Day Calendar for all kinds of national “fill-in-the-blank” days, then have fun building your own special sales!
Tip 3. Turn “Holiday” into “Cold Weather” or “Winter”
Many products sold during the holidays are geared toward cold weather. So, they can easily be sold during Q1—the 3 coldest months of the year. From clothes to sporting goods, ditch holiday themes and switch to cold weather marketing.
Tip 4. Launch new products or services
Offering something new or sharing what you’re about to roll out always generates customer interest. Your customers have been looking for something new or different for months now. Pique their curiosity to get them in the door.
Also, January finds many consumers viewing the upcoming year with fresh eyes—and many New Year’s resolutions. So, promoting health, fitness, safety, and organizational products will appeal to this mindset.
Tip 5. Use social media to engage existing customers and draw in new ones
Offer discounts for your friends on Facebook and Twitter followers. Hold a photo contest. Take pics of your newest product in different areas around town and challenge people to name the location. Use it to showcase upcoming specials and remind them to use their Q1 incentives before they expire.
Tip 6. Collaborate with area causes
Host an event in your store with a local not-for-profit you admire. The cross-promotion will benefit both you and the charity, plus bring in potential new customers.
Tip 7. Focus on your customers
It’s been said that:
“80% of your future revenue will come from 20% of your existing customers.”
Never, ever take your customers for granted. Q1 is an excellent time to reinforce your relationship with existing customers, as well as target more recent customers. And, if you do business online, pursue those who abandoned shopping carts to find out what’s going on.
Use personalized messaging, social media, direct mail, and emails targeted specifically toward what each customer likes. Start a loyalty program. Hand out store swag. Pursuing customer retention goes a long way toward ensuring a healthy Q1 and avoiding a sales slump.
Shaking the Sales Slump Blues
These 7 tips can be augmented with other ideas such as:
- Updating your store’s or website’s look
- Promoting your best-sellers of Q4 to move them in January
- Trying to make any post holiday returns into a positive experience
- Broadening your stock to cover multiple seasons
There’s no need to be down in the dumps over Q1. You can avoid a sales slump. We’ve listed proven strategies you can use to boost sales plus create a solid footing to grow your business the rest of the year.