Ok. Let's try to improve your shop or some other small business a bit. You could use ideas like these to do that.
1. Start having "happy hours"
2. Create your own "loyalty program"
3. Add bonus
4. Place a board in your shop/office
5. Promote sense of humor
6. Promote knowledge
7. Share the news
8. Share the wisdom
9. Share the knowledge
10. Put pictures from all over the world in your shop
11. Make your prices lower / higher
12. Have small shop/service every 100th buyer contest
13. Have fun contests in your shop
14. Think about your shop or business you have and write down your ideas with explanation why they are so good...
1. Start having "happy hours"
If you have some kind of shop (even if it's only on-line):
- first check when do your customers come to your shop (what time, which days)
- then try to figure out why does it happen (maybe it's because they are at work or at home), so eventually you should know which hours you can make more profitable
- then decide which hours would you like them to come to your shop more often
- and finally prepare a big sign "Happy hours" (e.g. 10%/20% discount)
After that you should check if it really works. If it works - more people come and buy in "happy hours" and "not less than before" come in "normal hours". If it works, your job is done here. If not, try to change something (hours, discount, days).
If you provide some kind of intellectual service or have it or it-connected company - you may also use "happy hours" idea, just in your field it may need some different approach, but the main mechanism is the same.
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2. Create your own "loyalty program"
Even if you have really small shop, you can create some cards (with name or just number) and let people collect points and get discounts. And you probably know how it works from here.
Advanced version of this idea is to contact with other shops from your neighborhood and create bigger "loyalty program" for 2, 3 or more shops from the area.
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3. Add bonus
Add bonus to every item you sell. It can be small bonus if transaction is small and bigger if it's bigger.
You can add simple little candy or pair of socks or a pen. It all depends on what kind of small business you have and how much you can spend on those bonuses.
People should appreciate those little gifts they get from you, they might smile and be more eager to come back.
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4. Place a board in your shop/office
It can be simple board (or flip-chart) on which people can write something or draw something. You also may start a drawing or a story to write (e.g. Long time ago, behind many rivers in little town called X, there was a princess...). Every customer can add something if he/she wants and after the board will be filled with whole picture or story you can take a photo of this. That photo you can place somewhere in your shop/office and start your own 'gallery'. And of course, the table will be free for another story or picture.
And of course you can think about some developments of this idea (give crayons, pictures to stick to the board, sample sentences, give puzzles to build instead of picture to draw, etc.).
It's important that people can do something that will last and be kind of cool. And after a month or a year you can invite local journalist to your shop.
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5. Promote sense of humor
You can give people 5% bonus if they tell the joke. You can write down all jokes and place the best in your shop, e.g. next to the cashier or if your shop/office is bigger in couple different places.
You can also place "the best yesterday's joke" on yours business's front door.
People may laugh and you can have more pleased customers.
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6. Promote knowledge
Prepare some questions for your customers - e.g. ten for a day and if someone wants bonus ask him/her those questions. For example - who was the first American President? Or who was the second? It all depends what kind of business you have (it may be as well - what do you need to prepare 'pizza'?)
You can differentiate the difficulty of those questions and bonuses - you want smaller bonus you can answer easier question.
You can also place the first/easiest question on yours business's front door.
People may like having discount thanks to their knowledge.
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7. Share the news
If you have a shop or a bar or some other business with a place, where you can put some information available for pedestrians, place there some information from morning paper – sport / politics / medicine / etc.
People could stay for a moment to read the news and maybe they will also get into your shop.
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8. Share the wisdom
You can write a sentence of wisdom from some ancient (or not so ancient) philosopher (or writer or actor/actress or other star) somewhere in your shop/office.
People sometimes like to listen to wise or just famous people. And if you chose those sentences wisely, they may also want to visit your shop/office.
You can add bonus question - what did the author wrote or in what movie the author of the sentence played? Answer and get 5% discount in our shop.
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9. Share the knowledge
Did you know that Pablo Picasso (famous painter) was born in Spain in 1881 and died in 1973? It means he was 92 years old when he died.
You can write this kind of information in your shop/office - every day something different - to make people stay for a while and read something that will be useful or just interesting for them.
You can add a bonus-contest to this, e.g. 'name one painting created by Picasso' or 'answer what was the name of the painting sold in 2004 for more then 120 000 000 dollars' and gain 5% discount in our shop.
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10. Put pictures from all over the world in your shop
Whatever your shop is, you can put next to the things you sell pictures from all over the world. For example you can put pictures of African or American desert next to the water (if you sell water) or sunglasses or swimsuits or air-conditioners or books about…, etc. You can put picture of mountains, cities, etc. so people could feel for a moment as they were there, in that place from the picture.
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11. Make your prices lower / higher
Sometimes it helps when the price is lower. You can try this for a moment and check if more people come to your shop and buy more.
And sometimes it helps when the prices are higher. People may assume that the thing you are selling is better. Of course, you should be careful with this idea, because sometimes when people see that your prices are bigger that they think should be, they will remember it for long time.
And also remember to think about your customers when you change your prices - why do you think those price change will help them. Well, if it's lowering they will have it cheaper. But why do you think make your prices higher will help them? Sometimes it might be good for people (for example when people start to learn something and pay for it, they might be more committed to go to the lesson if they pay more for it. You should know why it is good in your case before you start changing your prices.
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12. Have small shop/service every 100th buyer contest
You can give every 100th buyer movie tickets or special discount or chocolate or something you think is appropriate in your business.
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13. Have fun contests in your shop
You can have a contest of throwing ball to basket or writing difficult sentence without mistakes or preparing best sandwich. Every shop can have contests.
You can give winners some discount or a medal. People like getting medals. You could make this contest weekly or monthly event and keep scores.
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14. Think about your shop or business you have and write down your ideas with explanation why they are so good...
If U have a bookstore you may start with: - prepare shelves in your bookstore that says: book for 20-year-old people, 30-, 40-, 50-, 60-; - sort your books into categories: they will make you laugh, they will make you cry, they will make you scared, etc.
If U have a sport shop you may start with: - put board with records of contests you have in your shop whatever they are.
