How to Increase Your Bottom Line

This Week with Sara Fitts looks at how to increase your bottom line by increasing sales and growing your business - any business, actually. I see these as basic fundamentals of business growth.

1. Keep the customers or clients you have. Customer service is extremely important in growing your business. By keeping the customers you already have, it becomes much easier to attract others. Your base should be held in the highest regard and never taken for granted. Reward your customers for their loyalty to you, and you'll have them for as long as you're in business.
2. Attract new customers or clients. Marketing should be an on-going activity that keeps your name in front of your target market at all times. Marketing is not an activity that should be "done" when sales are down. Marketing won't attract customers without follow-up. Attract new customers by following up on every marketing campaign. Follow-up is fundamental - but often lacking. Follow up on all leads and prospects. Increase your base.
3. Add to the average sale. Fast food restaurants do this extremely well with their value and combo meals. This is a strategy that I think can work in any business. Bundle your services or products for a bigger and better sale. Add value to every single sale for the sake of the customer as well as for the sake of the business.
4. Increase repeat business for every customer. This may mean an increase in research and development of new product offerings and services. This also means that you must stay on the cutting edge of your industry in order to increase your bottom line. Take the average time for repeat sales, and cut it in half. When you think about that, you've already doubled your revenue.
5. Refuse to accept all prospects as customers or clients. We all know who we need to get rid of - but we often don't because we feel we need their money. But the reality of the situation is that the worst customers or clients actually zap the life out of the business because we become drained by the aggravation they bring. If we refuse to accept poor candidates for our products and services, we then are more energized to go out and find the very best customers and clients. Be more selective, and you'll automatically increase your bottom line.
6. Remain positive, stay focused, and never give up. Growing your business will almost always take longer than you want it to, but never give up. Have a plan and keep working that plan.