joint venture marketing
When you launch a joint venture with another company, the idea is to build your business and bring in more customers, right? What happens when you suddenly find yourself with an influx of customers?
While most business owners may be thinking that’s a problem they would like to have, it still can be a problem if you are not prepared for the increase in business. We have tips to help you prepare for the influx of business that could be the positive result of your joint venture efforts.
Get Your Staff On
If your joint venture efforts include a special promotion to attract new customers, you may find yourself overwhelmed with new business for a number of weeks. Make sure you are properly staffed for the increase, even if it means bringing on extra help for a short-term assignment. For those who can’t afford to hire extra personnel, automating many of your processes can help lighten the load for the employees you do have.
Stress Service
When businesses get busy, customer service is often one of the first assets to get sacrificed to the crowds. Make sure your staff understands that an increase in business is the perfect time to improve the service level, so all of these new customers come back for more.
Now is the time to provide additional training or incentives for your staff to ensure every customer that comes through your doors or clicks on your website has a satisfactory experience with your company.
Back Up Your Product
It isn’t unusual to run out of product when business suddenly increases. While you don’t want more inventory than you can sell, make sure you have a way to get additional merchandise expeditiously if it turns out there is a bigger demand than you expected. Drop shipping can be one option in these situations, although overnight delivery and additional suppliers are other choices worth considering.
Always Say Yes
When you have many new customers trying out your business for the first time, it’s important to be as accommodating as possible. Empower your employees to be able to say “yes” to most of your customers’ requests, even if it means bending the rules to keep them happy. Loyal customers are much more accepting of “no” answers from time to time than brand new customers.
Add Some Freebies
To entice those potential customers to buy from you, add some freebies to the initial order. It might be a free sample of a related products or a discount on their subsequent purchase. Keep in mind that Internet companies are a dime a dozen, so you might have to sweeten the pot to get a customer to do business with you, rather than the next company on the search engine.
Joint ventures are one of the most effective ways to increase your customer base, but you need to be prepared for those additional customers once they visit your business. With these tips in mind, you will be ready to handle that influx of potential customers, so newbies become loyal clients in no time at all.
christian fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A joint venture marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.
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