The Sale Looked Great — Until We Saw What We Kept

We’ve run promotions that looked really good from the packing table.

Orders were coming in. The label printer was going. Boxes were stacking up by the door. Everybody was busy.

Then we looked at what the business actually kept from each order.

And suddenly, the promotion didn’t look nearly as exciting.

We had done more work, shipped more boxes, and left less money behind on every sale.

And the customer had learned something too: if she waited long enough, another discount was probably coming.

That’s what we’re talking about in Day 6 of 30 Days to More Sales.

Because a busy packing table doesn’t automatically mean you ran a good promotion.

Sales tell you what came in.

They don’t tell you what stayed after the product, discount, fees, shipping, packing, ads, and other costs tied to getting that order out the door.

And there’s another problem with automatically reaching for a discount every time sales get quiet.

Eventually, the regular price starts to feel temporary and the sale price starts to feel like the “real” price.

Your customer stops thinking, “Should I buy this?”

She starts thinking, “When will it go on sale again?”

In this episode, we’re looking past the sales number and asking a much better question:

Was this actually a good sale for the business?

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL HEAR:

Why more orders don’t automatically mean a promotion worked
What happened when we looked at what our business actually kept from each sale
How repeated discounting can train customers to wait
Why a 20% discount can cost your business more than you think
What kinds of costs need to be considered before judging a promotion
Why your product and your offer are not the same thing
Ways to make an offer stronger without automatically lowering the price
What I want you to check before you run your next promotion

YOUR ONE CLEAR NEXT STEP

Take one product you’re planning to promote next.

Before you choose the coupon code or announce the sale, look at the offer from both sides:

Is there a strong reason for the customer to buy?

And does the order still leave enough money behind for the business?

In the episode, I’ll show you how I look at one promoted order and how to compare a discount with a stronger value-based offer.

GET THE FREE DOWNLOAD

Day 6: How to Sell Your Products Without Discounting Everything

I created a simple worksheet to help you look at one product, figure out why customers may be hesitating, and build a stronger offer before automatically cutting the price.

You’ll use it to work through your own product and decide what needs to change.

Get the free Day 6 download at BeckyJAnderson.com.

30 DAYS TO MORE SALES

This is Day 6 of 30 Days to More Sales.

For 30 days, we’re looking at one place your product business could be losing sales and giving you one clear next step to fix it.

One problem. One fix. One clear next step.

COMING NEXT

Day 7: How to Choose What to Fix This Week

After six days, you may already have a pretty good list of things you could improve.

The problem is that when everything feels important, it’s easy to either work on everything or finish nothing.

Tomorrow, we’re choosing the one thing that deserves your attention first.

You don’t need to fix the whole business this week.

You need to fix the next right thing.

MORE FROM ME

Visit BeckyJAnderson.com for the podcast, free downloads, and ways to work with me.

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