Day 213: The Loudest BOOS

Yesterday I was explaining how sometimes in business withdrawing is the best strategy.

I remember a time playing hockey when I went into the corner with an angry 6’5” man child on steroids… having the brains to ‘withdraw’ is up there on the ‘I wish I had done that list.’

When my shoulders touched, I knew I was in trouble.

Many of the most iconic and most successful brands in the world like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft etc…  withdraw, without hesitation, when appropriate.

The secret is to KNOW when you’ve put in the work.

If you want to look good in front of thousands….

You need outwork thousands in front of nobody.

Anyhoo…

Your ONE COACHING THING Today Is:

‘Strategic Discounting’

The first thing you and your high-end coaching client need to do… is decide why you’re doing it.

Start with a clear understanding of your objectives.

How else are you going to know if you’re successful or not?

Unless you’re looking to establish yourself as a discount retailer…. Make sure that you’ve exhausted other options that may preserve you and your client’s margins.

Here are some sample objectives for a discount strategy:

• To generate leads. If they’ve seen a dip in lead generation, you may want to help implement a discount promotion to attract new prospective customers.
• To increase sales. If increasing sales is your objective, make sure you’ve reviewed other strategies for achieving this objective. It can be very difficult to increase overall revenue with discounting, since your increase in sales volume needs to cover your costs and loss of profit margin.
• To move old product. Discount out-of-season merchandise and products that are nearing their expiration date.
• To lure back old customers. They’ve already paid to acquire the customer, so you have a bit more room in the margins to discount.
• To promote a new product. If they’re launching a new product line… you could use a short-term discount strategy to encourage people to try it out and or join a list.
• To save fleeing customers. If the competition is offering lower prices you may need to win the price war over the short term. However, an added-value strategy may be more effective (your profit margins will thank you) at keeping your current client base. *The Happy Meal at McDonalds
• To increase average dollar sale. Offer a discount on all purchases above a set value to encourage greater spending. Price this value at 30% above your current average dollar sale, and offer a 10% discount. You’ll have a guaranteed increase in average sales. *Super size it.

If you discount too long, you run the risk of either acquiring customers that will never pay full price, or an inability to compete with other businesses.

*People get addicted to discounts… they don’t get addicted to free.

You heard it here first.

Obsessed with your business coaching success,

Karl Bryan aka King Karl

PS. “The loudest BOOS in baseball always come from the cheapest seats…. People who invested the least in you will have the most to say about you. Trust your work ethic and keep your circle tight.” ~ Babe Ruth