• Improving enquiries – being creative in generating enquiries is the secret to customer attraction. The coffee shop offering a free muffin will win over the coffee shop next door without the free muffin. Find a point of difference… ask yourself “what will make a customer choose me over my competitor?” And when you find your unique selling proposition shout it out in every way you can possibly think of.
• Improving the conversion of those enquiries – after all the cost and effort of attracting a customer it’s now up to you to sell them something. You need to answer every objection, have a strong risk reversal guarantee with a product and service range for all their needs. Often this area can be dramatically improved in many businesses. I ask businesses what they believe their conversion rate to be and they usually say around 50%… They are always shocked when they start to measure it and it is less than 20%. This is a good thing though, as it leaves lots of room for improvement!
• Improving the average transaction size – your total sales over the last year divided by the amount of transactions will give you your average transaction size. Again it comes down to creativity – how can you get customers to spend more. The easiest way is to offer a freebie if they spend over a certain amount. Look at McDonalds with their “Would you like chips with that?”
• Improving the average transactions per year – your customer may buy from you several times a year, once a year or even once every 7 years. So how could you encourage them to come in more often and buy from you? What other product or service could you offer them?

Whether you are a plumber, a salon owner or a dentist, focusing and improving on these 4 areas will guide you to business happiness and prosperity.