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Do You Have a $25,000+ Package to Sell?

Posted by Tony Plies

Strategy eats tactics for breakfast… and tactics put runs on the board (money in the bank) quickly – Karl Bryan

Whether you like it or not, every business sells – every business. If you don’t sell something (or think you don’t), you don’t have a business. What you have is an expensive and time-consuming hobby.

So, based on the fact we all are in the sales business, do you have a $25,000 item or package you sell?

Every time I ask that question, I get silence, then an excuse. “I’m a CPA”, or “I’m a florist” or whatever. It really doesn’t matter if you’re a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker, you need a $25k, $50k, or, depending on your business, a $100,000 package of services and/or items to sell.

Will you sell a lot of them? Probably not. But, what you will sell a lot of will be your most profitable items under that category.

When my son was a little boy, he taught me an Elmo song from Sesame Street. Elmo was half-way up the stairs. Elmo acknowledged that he wasn’t at the bottom and he wasn’t at the top. Why, because “in the middle” is where most people feel comfortable. So was Elmo.

So, what does this story have to do with a $25,000 package? Plenty.

You see, most every business owner knows the easiest sale is to a current customer. Getting more transactions from current clients is a way to skyrocket your profit. Yet, most business owners make no discernable effort to do so.

Take the Florist for example: The florist sees most men only a few times per year… wife/gf’s birthday, Valentines Day, Anniversary, and Mother’s Day. Yet, the Florist typically makes a sale on only one of those occasions, not all four.

What would happen if that Florist offered a VIP package that automatically sent flowers to that special someone three or four times per year covering all the dates important to her (plus maybe mail or email a signed card or sent a smaller bouquet AUTOMATICALLY for other occasions so it’s never late or forgotten) but the guy paid only once – annually? Or, he could make 4 quarterly payments, hitting his American Express automatically.

Not every guy would buy it, but that’s not the point. Say two out of ten agreed to participate in the Florist’s new VIP Plan. That’s 2 or 3, maybe 4, more transactions per year with no marketing costs. What if the Florist saw 100 men walk-in to the flower shop on each one of those special occasions and closed 20 on on a VIP package each holiday?

That’s 80 new sales each year. So, 200% to 500% increase in sales simply by being prepared and asking.

Say, hypothetically, the Florist’s profit margin was $300 on each package. That’s $300 x 80 new VIP packages = $24,000 annually and ALL profit. Not huge money, but not bad simply for putting some thought into their clients situation.

Now, realistically, most Florists are not going to sell $25,000 to men, but they certainly could to companies. Maybe not sentimental occasions (or maybe they could – who knows?), but companies have board meetings, staff celebrations, company milestones, etc.

Let’s say you’re an accountant. An accountant could easily sell $25,000 packages of their services. Individuals and small business owners see you to prepare their taxes. For small business owners, do you provide advisory services just once per year? Of course you don’t.

But, if you packaged in quarterly reviews, financial planning, tax assessments, financial book archiving, benefit plan reviews, and all the necessary and advisable items a CPA needs to deal with to keep clients compliant and all done in a neat, calendared package, you think business owners would buy it? I know they would. We help them with it all the time.

You see, the point is, a lot of your customers don’t know what they need or that you offer it. Bundling products or services that naturally make sense for the client also make sense for your business and your profit.

I’m sure you get the point. All it takes is some thought and a little planning. When you sell your first four $25,000 packages and put a newfound $100k on the books, you’ll not only be amazed as to how easy it really was, you’ll wonder out-loud “How come I didn’t do this sooner”?

Let us know if you need some help developing ideas! Good luck.


22% Increase in Pay for Just One No-Cost Idea

Posted by Tony Plies

Most every business owner knows the easiest and most cost-efficient sale is to a current customer. The customer already knows the business, they trust them, and like them… all the ingredients necessary to make a sale. Getting more transactions from current clients is a way to skyrocket your profit. Yet, most business owners make no discernable effort to do so.

Let me give you an example of how one no-cost idea can lead to a 22% increase in pay for a small business owner that wants to take the time to get tactical in their business.

Take a Florist for example: The Florist sees most men only a few times per year… wife’s birthday, Valentines Day, Anniversary, and Mother’s Day. Yet, the Florist typically makes a sale on only one of those occasions, not all four. The Florist typically doesn’t take the man’s name or email address for further communication (like a drip campaign) and sales opportunities. The Florist makes the sale in front of them and hopes the man comes back again in the future.

That’s what is called a Linear sale. And it’s pretty typical.

Unfortunately, this is a prime example of linear growth or decline most small business owners are also stuck in.

While we deal in exponential growth, the scenario I’ll explain below is only one very basic element of exponential growth. Let’s see how it plays out for a Florist using some industry averages.

What would happen if that Florist offered a VIP package that automatically sent flowers to the men’s special someone four or five times per year covering all the dates important to her (plus maybe mail a signed card or email an e-card or send a smaller bouquet AUTOMATICALLY for those other occasions so it’s never late or forgotten) but the guy pays only once – annually? Or, he could make 4 quarterly payments, tapping his credit card automatically.

Not every guy would buy a $400 VIP package, but that’s not the point. Say two out of ten agreed to participate in the Florist’s new VIP Plan. That’s 4, maybe 5, more transactions per year with no marketing costs. What if the Florist saw 100 men walk-in to the flower shop on each one of those special occasions and closed 20 on on a VIP package each holiday?

So, 400% to 500% increase in that category of sales simply by being prepared and asking.

The average margin for flowers is 75%. Say, hypothetically, the Florist sold these VIP packages at $400 each. That’s a gross profit margin of $300 on each package. That’s $300 x 80 (20 men X 4 occasions = 80) new VIP packages or $24,000 annually.

At an average net profit of 20% of revenue, that’s $6,400 annually. While not huge money, when you consider the average Florist’s income is $29,195, that $6,400 profit amounts to a 22% pay increase for the owner.

I’m pretty sure a Florist making $29,195 per year would jump at the chance to make $35,595 if the cost to do it was $0. This is just one simple idea of many that costs absolutely nothing to initiate. All it takes is a little thought and preparation.

Additionally, as these holidays are recurring, so the income will also be recurring.

As mentioned earlier, this is just one example of how to grow your business exponentially. When you add in cross-selling (“Would you like fries with that?”) and upselling (“Would you like that super-sized?”), now you’re impacting multiple areas that compound growth.

McDonald’s saw how simply asking, they sold more large fries and more large drinks simply by asking – adding billions of dollars to their bottom-line. If a sixteen-year-old kid working the counter at McDonald’s can do it, so can you.

If you need help, let’s talk or go here to download my book for FREE that tells you everything you need to know to find $10,000 in your business without spending another dollar in marketing or advertising.

You can also click this link to take a guided tour of our Do-It-Yourself E-Learning Marketing System

If you want to see how we’ll find more than $100,000 in new recurring revenue in your business without spending another dollar in marketing or advertising, watch this brief video to see how we do it and how we’ll do it specifically for your business for FREE!