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Newsletter #751: The “Help Them Buy More” Issue

{Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That Email Newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.}

Who couldn’t use more sales? But instead of trying to expand your customer base, here are three quick ways to increase what existing customers are already buying:

1> Make it easy to haul
2> Make it easy to reorder
3> Make it easy to upgrade
4> Check it out: Freezly

1> Make it easy to haul

Is the sheer physical size or quantity of your product making it hard to purchase lots of your stuff? Beer gets heavy, but if you’ve got a Natural Light “Natty Caddy” — a cart designed to haul lots of beer — even the skinniest of pledges can make sure all those cases get to the toga party. Binge drinking aside, the cart raises some interesting questions. Would a differently designed shopping cart sell more stuff? Would offering a coupon for a moving company make customers less hesitant to buy the bigger couch — knowing they’ll have to move it someday?

The Lesson: Selling big, heavy things means you’ve got to go out of your way to make it easy on your customers to manage and move it.

2> Make it easy to reorder

It’s often easier to earn a sale from a former customer than from a new one. 1-800 CONTACTS makes it easy to place your next order by including a re-order form good for free shipping in the box with your contacts. There’s no need to go back online or fill out anything complicated — just drop the form in the mail. If direct orders aren’t your game, apply this thinking by reminding customers when their supply should be running low and asking if they need a refill. Or, give customers the ability to opt for a subscription where their orders are automatically renewed.

The Lesson: Instead of spending so many resources digging up new customers, take some time to make it easier for existing ones to purchase again.

3> Make it easy to upgrade

One the fastest ways to earn more sales is to make it easy to upgrade your product. Anyone who’s ever bought a domain from GoDaddy knows how enticing a few helpful upgrades can be. From the online shopping cart, GoDaddy offers tons of opt-in upgrades — often with special coupons. You can try adding more sales on top of existing ones with some helpful upgrades, a great extended warranty, or some relevant accessories.

The Lesson: Earn more sales not by creating new products, but by giving fans the chance to upgrade what they already love.

4> Check it out: Freezly

Having trouble keeping track of all those giveaways on Twitter and Facebook? With Freezly, you can see what’s being handed out on the web — right now.

Check it out: Freezly

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