Selling a home is a pretty stressful event. You are, after all selling the place that you have lived in for years (maybe). either way you look at it, there is likely an emotional attachment to your home and you will want to realize the greatest profit from its sale. It would be nice if buyers could place the same emotional value on your home but that is a bit much to expect from someone who has not lived there. It is your responsibility to make the home presentable (or to hire someone to do so) to buyers. Remember that your home will be in competition with hundreds of homes, or more depending on the size of your area. So how can you showcase your home in a way that will attract the attention of buyers and help your home sell quickly?
There are a number of things that are commonly overlooked when selling a home. Small things that we as owners have come to overlook that buyers will notice straight away. Small dings in the wall, a slight leak from a faucet, the marks of your growing children on the kitchen door frame. All these things are the kind of things that buyers notice when they view a home. Remember that any broken or faulty aspects of your home may lead buyers to question what else may be wrong with the home. The foundational step of a good home showing is cleaning the house.
Like a maniac. No matter what kind or age of home you have the showing process needs to happen in a clean environment. This means cleaning all those little niches that you sometimes gloss over when doing your daily cleaning. Clean out your closets and organize them neatly. Clean behind the appliances, scrub all the fixtures, shampoo the carpets if there are any and wash the windows. You want viewers to walk into your home and feel like it is this clean all the time.
The same should hold true for the outside of the home. Looking at your home with a critical eye is hard but necessary. If your paint needs touching up or a complete redo, don't be afraid to spend the money to get it fixed. You will get it back when the home sells for more than it would without the improvement. Selling a home is like displaying your home in a magazine, it has to look beyond good. Buyers can be pretty fickle when it comes to homes that are not well taken care of or at least appear that way. Don't let this happen to your home, plan ahead for your sale and get your home in shape for it.
You've spent time, energy and money promoting your business. Paying customers are beginning to notice you. Any second now, you will make your first sale! The concept is exciting! And frightening! Most new business owners have few customers, and although their marketing efforts are beginning to pay off, it is necessary to make the most of every customer, especially the ones that buy something.
The techniques I'm about to share with you are time tested and proven to be effective, however, they are often overlooked by business owners. They are basic ways to add additional profit to every transaction.
Follow up. This little gem has been used by merchants since the time of the pharaohs. When you make your first sale, you MUST follow-up with the customer. Send them a "thank you" email and include an advertisement for other products you sell. Also, don't let the relationship end! Follow-up at regular intervals; once every few weeks, or once a month. Add them to a mailing list. You could even automate this with the use of an email autoresponder. Isn't technology wonderful?
Upsell! Think about it. If you went to a department store to buy a transistor radio, you are also going to need batteries. You might even need an earpiece. You can upsell to your internet customers the same way. When they're at your order page, tell them about a few extra related products you have for sale. Offer to add to add it to their original order as a convenience to them.
Referrals. You know your customer is going to love whatever you're selling them. They're going to tell their friends about it. Tell your customer if they refer four customers to your web site, they will receive a full rebate of their purchase price. You get the customers money up front and they will send you four more customers. This will effectively multiply your original profit by a factor of three!
Affiliate Programs. Related to the technique above, but with subtle differences. When you sell a product, give your customers the option of joining an affiliate program so they can make commissions selling your product. This will multiply the sale you just made and provide you with a residual source of new customers.
Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to your products. This is VERY profitable when selling Information products, but could work in other areas as well. Include your ad inside the product for other products you sell. You could make sales for the reproduction rights AND sales on the products advertised inside. This is sometimes referred to as "viral Marketing"; because the person to whom you sold the reprint rights will distribute their product widely with your offers inside.
Joint Ventures. This is the old "two heads are better than one" scenario modified for internet profit! Cross promote your product with other businesses' products in a package deal. You can include ad copy for other products you sell and have other businesses selling for you.
Coupons. Here's another classic easily adapted to online sales. When you ship out or deliver your product, include a coupon good for a discount on other related products you sell in the package. You are rewarding your customer for the business and it will dramatically increase the odds that they will buy more products from you.
Send a catalog. If you think the internet has replaced the paper catalogs of old, then think again! Catalog marketing is very effective, even today. Send your customers a catalog of add-on products for the original product they purchased. This could be upgrades, special services, attachments, etc. If they enjoy your product they will buy the extra add-ons.
Gift Certificates. It's getting more and more difficult to give gifts these days. Solution? Gift certificates! When you sell a gift certificate, you've solved a problem for your customer, plus you'll make sales from the purchase of the gift certificate. When the recipient cashes it in, you have the opportunity to upsell.
Free Bonuses. People LOVE freebies! Send your customers free gifts with their product package. The freebies should have your ad printed on them. For businesses selling physical goods, It could be bumper stickers, ball caps, t-shirts etc. This will allow other people to see your ad and order. If your product is electronic or digital, it's even easier, because the giveaway will usually cost you less.
There are countless other ways to maximize your sales. The purpose of this article is merely to open your eyes to the fact that the quality of the relationship you build with your customer is what increases your profit. The underlying idea is to build trust. If your customer considers you a valuable and trusted resource, you will be rewarded with more profits!
Both Scott Baxter & are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Scott Baxter has sinced written about articles on various topics from Real Estate, Consumer and Real Estate. Scott Baxter is a long time real estate investor and is also a real estate agent who specializes in Prescott AZ real estate. Scott's passion for real estate has enabl. Scott Baxter's top article generates over 74000 views. Bookmark Scott Baxter to your Favourites.
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