Put Open Technology to Work With Added Value Customer Incentives3 min read
Among the many positives that are inherently woven into the fabric of POS technology is how effective it is in both the acquisition of and keeping customers. Particularly important for small to mid-sized businesses, it’s an excellent method of increasing brand awareness in a manner that will serve to establish the host business with impressive distinction within the marketplace. POS technology is still new enough that some hesitancy exists simply due to lack of knowledge in just how it works and especially how powerful a tool it is for streamlining a business, from the back door all the way through operations to the completely satisfied sale. When you hear talk of “Added Value Customer Incentives,” there are many reasons why this concept is different from a “sale,” or a general publically advertised “promotion.” What follows are some of the details of how a POS system customized to your business can serve you to take the very best care of your existing customers and at the same time, attract new customers who find your reputation of offering choice “added value” incentives refreshing and worthwhile.
A Customer-Inspired Design
Because beauty is firmly proven as a secured treasure existing within the heart of the beholder, any incentives you provide must be identified from the perspective of the customer. Guesswork is too risky, and your efforts to draw increased sales will only be as effective as the perception of value level they offer. By determining the target market for your business, you can then look at ways in which your product or service will be of benefit to them. Avoid cliche or the obvious incentives and elevate your brand by out of the box deals. Some of the most effective incentives involve helping customers to solve problems or do their jobs better. It’s not really so much about a feature as it is about what partaking will do to benefit your customer, where it’ll do the most good. By collecting the right information from your existing customers (including even brutally honest survey answers,) you will learn more about their preferences and wants, and collectively you can use your POS to help you come up with broad reaching content to please your median target audience.
Tap Into the Resources
A customer is either “right” or they’re “gone.” By presenting your customers with surveys, and stressing that you want their honest answers, you’ll learn most of what you need, to design your incentives. There are some free survey tools with easy templates, like Survey Monkey and SurveyPlanet. There’s nothing wrong with checking out some popular marketing models to give you a basic strategy framework. Watch the YouTube video, The Four Cs Model, or Google the Brand Essence Wheel, where you can read up on how to effectively capture and communicate your brand’s subtle essence. Wikipedia contains a valuable read-up on the SWOT analysis, or SWOT matrix, that is an excellent method businesses can use in evaluating a project or venture’s strengths and weaknesses, and its opportunities and threats.
About “Free”
Free resources and such can be helpful in increasing brand awareness and get you more exposure, but keep in mind that in order to be helpful, whatever you’re handing out needs to be relevant to your market or brand and should always be in keeping with your business’ growth incentives.
