Streamline your sales cycle management for Retail Trade

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why are my sales so low i should be so busy this time of year if you're asking this question you've likely fallen into this vicious cycle of feast or famine marketing it is a roller coaster you do not want to be on but luckily i have found the break so keep watching for my three steps for fixing your broken marketing strategy finally so that you can enjoy consistent sales and profits hi there i'm kathy donovan wagner founder of retailmavens and mother of america's most fun family my mission is to help independent retailers just like you get more profit and better sleep and something that kills both of those things is having a reactive marketing plan instead of a proactive one we should be busier than this you think to yourself while you're going into your point of sale checking your sales for the third time in the last hour knowing full well that nobody's been in the store and nothing has changed your store is full of beautiful inventory that you've spent so much time carefully selecting and editing for your customers where are they ah boy don't you always start the season with so much hope and excitement why does this keep happening the reason is simple you've fallen into the feast or famine marketing cycle you haven't marketed consistently what happens to so many retailers is that they get caught up in all the things they have to do there's juggling inventory managing your team filling for someone who's sick juggling a miles long to-do list i get it and they think they don't need to worry about marketing because sales are fine right everything's going well that's the feast phase until all of a sudden bam sales aren't going well this is the famine phase so frantically you start throwing together ads social media posts emails newsletters postcards events even to get people into your store but by now it's too little too late in the blink of an eye there's another trade show and so you're off buying for the next season and working like mad to get it all out and merchandise beautifully only to find yourself once again with a dry well and not enough customers so then you start marketing like crazy again but do you see how this becomes such a vicious cycle over and over and over i have been on this roller coaster with you and i am officially putting on the brakes it's time to get off the solution to this problem is to be systematic about your marketing and put it on autopilot there's only one way you can have a steady consistent stream of customers that is having a steady consistent stream of marketing and the best way to do that is to make sure that all of your pieces of your marketing run on a system like a well-oiled machine that doesn't need you to be there the whole time just once in a while to make sure that everything's running smoothly having a system that handles all the pieces of your marketing is the key to increased profits and more fun and listen i'm not a very disciplined person this is something that i would hear and i would be like yes yes i should i should dang i can't believe i haven't done this so first of all don't beat yourself up about it there's no room for that now is when you're gonna take action if you take the three steps today it's gonna make such a huge difference because i wasn't organized i would counteract that by working so hard to make sure that everything in my store had a system or a process to automatically increase my sales my profits and my free time i still have to decide to do this every day every day i choose to be intentional if i can make progress here so can you you just have to start and recognize that done beats perfect and don't get hung up in that when your marketing system is broken or non-existent believe me there's no judgment here there are three steps you have to take the middle one number two is simply genius i couldn't believe how much it simplified my marketing when i realized this step one market effectively yawn kathy this is so obvious but yet are you doing it but it's so critical for you to make sure that your marketing is as effective as possible so that you're not wasting any money or energy or time how do you do that means clarifying who your ideal customer is i have another video that i'll link below that you can check out to get all that information because you want to know where you can meet them and how you can speak directly to them what messaging do you need that's why it's really important number two create your marketing schedule you need to identify what marketing activities do you need to do in the morning and in the afternoon daily weekly monthly check your social media insights to see what time your people are reacting with your post to guide that in addition there are specific messages that need to go out at precise times during your busy season many of these things once you have them systemized they're so crazy easy to delegate let me give you some examples at the starting point of your busy season your marketing content will highlight new arrivals pre-orders launches behind-the-scenes glimpses from trade shows when you met the designer or the maker or the expert that's going to happen in the beginning of every busy season then the mid-season is going to be all about showcasing your merchandise things like taking this top and styling it three different ways or five different ideas for how to use candles and tablescapes or how to use this brand new yarn that i just got what are my favorite three patterns to use you see in the middle of the season all of your marketing content is about showcasing your products and showing your customers teaching them how to use it you can use photos and videos and lives to make it easy for your customers to see how to use your products then towards the end of the season your marketing content is going to be all focused on your clearance sale i have information about that below too and targeting your sale customers because you want to successfully move out all of your unsold merchandise so that you're ready for the next season to start with fresh new inventory so add these activities to your calendar schedule them and then just set them to repeat think about how easy that's going to be now that you know this is what happens every single season number three now assemble your content now that you know when where and to whom you're marketing it's time to pull together the what so you want to create content based on your ideal customer what platforms they're on and what your goals are this task can be delegated or outsourced if photos or copywriting graphic design isn't one of your strengths the beauty of this is all the work you did in step one about marketing effectively now you can just give that information to someone and so it makes it so easy for them to create this content with your branding and your messaging so that it's consistent with all of your marketing by having a set time to create this content and then a schedule to plug it into you are building a consistent automatic marketing machine it's so much more than a strategy and you'll be able to let go of panic you can start to be proactive instead of reactive just start set up systems for everything in your business that relates to marketing and sales i want you to mark down the trade shows you're going to be attending identify the start midpoint and end of your busy seasons throughout the year clarify who you are and who your ideal customer is for the most efficient marketing then create a schedule with the marketing test that you or the person you're going to delegate this to will be doing daily weekly monthly and also at the specific points in your selling season and all of that can be rinsed and repeated every season and schedule in time every month for this content creation you want to make sure that it matches your message to your ideal customer your chosen platforms and your goals i suggest allowing more time than you think you need because once you get in the zone of this you're going to want to keep doing it you need a minimum of two hours when you set your marketing up to be systematic you can finally get off that roller coaster named i don't have a plan i wish i did i see so many retailers including myself who rode that roller coaster for way too long if i can change so can you i know it now you'll be on track with a consistent marketing plan that is going to be easy to take action from and i guarantee will give you more profits and better sales comment mission accepted below if you are ready to take these three steps to fix your marketing strategy once and for all and to ditch the feast or famine marketing and you'll be keeping them a steady consistent flow of customers through your door and to your website from now on check out our resources below and make sure you subscribe to our channel we're going to give you more tools and tips like this all the time so that you can get more profit and better sleep and become a richer retailer [Music] 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