Why You Should Give Stuff Away for Free
You should be giving more value away for free than you do when customers pay. Why? Keep on reading!
Ascend them up your sales ladder
Making sales isn’t just about finding new customers, it is also about taking advantage of the ones who are already with you. When someone is already a customer, that obviously means that they are willing to spend their money with you. So, why not keep ascending them up your sales ladder?
If they already purchase from you, offer them something to get them to spend more. This can include coupons for larger items, such as a $20 off $200 or a point rewards system. This gives them incentive to spend more money while already with you, or to come spend money with you when they might not have otherwise that day.
Give them a reason to engage
As a small business, you need to be able to reach as many people as possible in your target audience in order to grow your business. You can have an entire audience in front of you, but if you are not offering them a compelling reason to come to you, then you might lose them entirely.
Giving them a reason to engage with you is an extremely simple way to get them to come to you. This can include something in exchange for signing up for an email newsletter, dropping a a business card to win a raffle, or a percentage off the first month of services. With so many competitors, you need to be able to sweeten the deal.
Perceived value
Giving stuff away for free isn’t just a means to get new customers, or to get your current customers to spend more. It’s also a way to show that you have a certain amount of perceived value to prospecting customers or referrers. They will be thinking, “if I am getting such great stuff for free, imagine what I could get if I am an actual customer!” The fact that you are willing to give so much away up front makes your business look like the possibilities are endless. If someone sees your value, they may tell someone else who would be suited for it if they are not. There’s no better recommendation than word of mouth!
Ideas you can start using today
If you’re ready to ramp up your sales, here are some ideas you can get started on today:
Cheat sheets
Offering a quick downloadable, such as a cheat sheet, will give inside information to the prospect that they didn’t need to pay for. They will have your downloadable floating around, and when they are ready to make a purchase, they will come to you since you have already offered them value.
Discounts
Obviously, people love to save money. If you are able to provide a discount off a first purchase or first service, then you need to be doing it. This is the easiest way to sweeten a deal enough for someone to make a purchase, and it can be something as little as $5 or 10% off.
Lead capture
Make sure you are offering your free stuff as a lead capture on your website, Yelp page and social media. This will not only give them something for free, but you are getting valuable data to remarket to later.
