There is nothing that robs an entrepreneur of sleep more than the fact that no customers come to his place.
And it is not for less because all the investment, the assembly, the planning and the enthusiasm that is printed to a business project is of no use, if we do not have someone to enter, be interested and buy.
Having a store with little customer traffic for a long time can cause concern, especially when we have to pay the high costs of rentals and services.
Anguish and despair take hold of some homeowners who resort to desperate actions such as lowering prices or spending large amounts of money – often unnecessary – on advertising.
Having a store in a prestigious commercial can be an excellent decision or the worst of all.
But how do you know? How to anticipate? How to attract more customers?
However, this evil seems to be more common than we imagine although in practice it is easier to avoid it than to correct it. An entrepreneur who better analyzes his financial decisions and studies his market thoroughly can avoid many headaches.
Today we will analyze some of the most common and I will give you some practical advice to attract more customers to your place.
Why don’t customers enter your business premises
If we analyze the physical environment of the store we will find that there are different factors that can prevent people from entering.
A sales principle establishes that everything enters through the eyes and if what your customers see is not pleasant, they will hardly buy. So these are some of the aspects that you should analyze:
- Your business is in an area that is not visible from the outside
- Your business entrance is indistinguishable
- Your store seems to be closed
- The colors of your premises are not inviting
- Lighting can be very dim
- The door is very narrow
- You are located in an area of great insecurity
- The products do not have a pleasant presentation
- Your place is not clean
- Your place does not smell good
- The staff that attends is not attentive
- Your salespeople approach the customer upon entering
- Customers see no price and assume it must be too expensive
- Your place lacks a parking area
So how do we make customers feel more willing to come in (and buy)?
Strategies to attract more customers to your store
- Put up a visible sign that says “open“(even when it seems logical)
- Place a sign with your business opening hours
- Make sure the door is wide and invites to enter. Narrow doors create the opposite direction (funnel syndrome)
- Avoid that your employees pressure the customer when entering, they should give time to feel comfortable inside and see the product
- If you are in a low-traffic area, place signs that guide you to your place
- Make sure it is always clean
- Take care that your place has good lighting, this inspires confidence
- Make sure your place is cool and well ventilated. Excessive heat makes customers flee
- Place some mirrors, this gives the feeling of spaciousness and more people
- Place environments so that the aroma when entering is pleasant
- Put nice background music (or according to the identity of your business)
- Place a nice and friendly person at the entrance that invites to enter
- Put some offers in the entrance or in the windows that attract the eye
- Use images of (happy) people in your advertising – this creates association –
- Run some special promotions
- Use lights or sound to attract attention (if allowed in your area)
- Take good care of the presentation of your product
- Offer a promotion to your clients for referring others
- Give balloons to children, this attracts the attention of them and their parents to come closer
- Decorate your premises according to the occasions (Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Independence, etc.)
- See how other nearby businesses are doing and look for possible commonalities
- If your business is food, give some samples to passersby
- Hire an edecan for the weekends
- Ensure exceptional attention from your dependents and salespeople
- Make sure there is a safe place to park
I have prepared the following video where I address this topic in greater depth, I hope it will be useful to you:
conclusion
Of course, most of these tips have to do with details of form, but we must not forget that there are other extremely important background elements that we must consider first-hand. The first has to do with focus.
Ask yourself the following market research questions:
- Is your product focused on the correct market?
- Are your prices suitable for the market you are reaching?
- Is the identity of your company consistent with this level of customers?
- Are your means of promotion consistent with the market segment?
And the second has to do with competition. What are they doing better than you?
These are 30 things you should know about your competition without excuses.
If after answering them, you conclude that you are located in the wrong place then there is no alternative but to definitely consider a change.
Change that of course represents a cost and inconvenience, but that is better than staying in a place where your business will not prosper.
