It’s a FACT that business owners know and must accept: There will be times when your business experiences sales lulls. The reasons can vary—time of year, perhaps a new competitor opening up, or perhaps an economic downturn. But before you get defeated, reframe the circumstances and figure out how you can take your period of slowed growth as an opportunity to make some changes that ultimately position you well ahead of your competitors.

QUICKLY ASSESS YOUR SALES CHANNELS

Whether you’re seeing reduced foot traffic or a decreasing profit margin, the signs of slowed growth can be fairly evident. But don’t simply sit by and wait for brighter days ahead. Instead, make the most of this time and do the work your competitors likely aren’t. During periods of slowed growth, take a hard look at what may be at the root of things. For example, is your business slow across all product lines and across all sales channels? When things are slow, we tend to throw everything into one disappointing heap.

Consider looking at your business from the sales channel perspective. Here’s an example…

• Standard Customer Sales: down in a big way and only strong during sales events
• Affluent Customer Sales: steady but not as brisk as last spring
• Builder Sales: very slow with strong pockets from key builders
• Service: brisk and picking up steam

Where will you place your energy in the next 60 days? Key builder accounts and Affluent sales in premium and luxury—is that what seems obvious? If the economy is fickle and customers are clutching their wallets tighter than normal, that’s an uphill battle. But there are things you can do to make the most of these lulls, especially when you identify sales channels that contain ongoing momentum.

Unlock Affluent Sales

Take periods of slowed growth as an opportunity to review and fine-tune your sales and marketing approaches. Consider that the Affluent Audience in your market needs to know more about you as a company. Do they know about your personal, one-on-one attention?  The Affluent traditionally keep upgrading their homes even in slow times. Start changing your advertising from a selling message in mass marketing to educating your Affluent Audience about the experience and services they gain from your team. Specifically, consider substantially increasing your reach to high-end consumers.

The Affluent traditionally keep upgrading their homes even in slow times.

Double Down on Your B2b Relationships

Consider that your sales team probably has extra time on their hands so push them out the door to visit their key builder accounts and prep them to ask a different set of questions. “How can we help you be more efficient in 2024 with kitchen projects?” “How do you adjust when the market slows down?” Meet with your team and build a list of the best questions that could make an impact on the relationship. Tell them you want them to return to the office once they know exactly what is happening with their top accounts.

The marketing experts at Affluent Bridge have spent more than a decade mastering proven strategies that drive growth for the premium and luxury appliance industry. We not only help our clients identify and reach their Affluent Audience, we ensure they stay in front of that consumer niche with a uniquely designed, hyper-targeted program, one that endures and drives new business—even in periods of economic downturns.

When you’re ready to rethink and act differently during slow times, our team at Affluent Bridge is ready to work alongside you and your team to accelerate growth beyond your competitors.