148,000 retail stores have gone out of business this year and most companies are reporting horrible numbers, but Amazon.com is crushing it. This post will show you 3 ways you can adapt some of Amazon’s strategies to your business to help you sell more.
1.) Flexibility: Amazon gives customers many different options to make purchasing online easier. They provide a 1 click checkout, pre-paid accounts, and Amazon credit cards. It’s simple to get in, buy and get out of Amazon in less than 3 minutes. Their customers demand speed and simplicity. Amazon delivers it.
Think about your business. Do you have different buying processes in place for different customer preferences? Can the customer contact you by phone, e-mail, web, or online chat? Do you have a dedicated team in place to field customer inquiries so your field reps can focus on selling? Are you using Sales 2.0 technology to help you stay in contact with your customers? These are important questions to ask yourself when trying to build a flexible business.
Answer them correctly in the eyes of your customer and you will sell more and create powerful WOM marketing.
2.) Recommendations: Amazon keeps a database of what you bought, what you viewed and your preferences. This allows them to give recommendations to items you may like. They also developed a wish list feature where customers can place items they wish to buy later or wish others would buy for them. They use this information to get an understanding of who you are and to make their recommendations more accurate.
Do you keep track of your customer data like Amazon? If you do you will be able to pick up on trends and provide targeted recommendations to your customers and increase your sales.
3.) Consistency: Amazon delivers an incredibly high level of service consistently. You know what your going to get with Amazon. They have built their brand around a quality experience with their website and on time delivery. They give you what you want, when you want it and customers have responded with their loyalty.
Are you running your business with this level of consistency? Do your customers know they can rely on you to deliver results on time every time? Do you update your customers with content they may find valuable on a consistent basis? Is your messaging consistent? Start delivering a quality experience consistently and your customers will respond.
Amazon may not run the same type of business model as you, but there is plenty you can learn from them. Amazon is putting their competition out of business and pulling in the dough.
You can get in on the action too if you create a flexible business catered to your customers needs, analyze your customer data to get to know them better and deliver a consistent quality experience.
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