I recently spoke about the importance of making the most of the surge in interest that's coming in January.
Each and every year, demand for new kitchens drops off in December and ratchets up in a big way in the New Year.
Many kitchen retailers recognise that January is a pivotal time to generate new leads, fill your pipeline and book work in for the year ahead. But there's another question: How?
What should you do to get your audience's attention, and should you be running promotional offers to attract new leads and customers?
There's no 'one size fits all' answer to the question. Still, over the last few years, we've seen that the businesses that don't run a promotion in January generally have a quieter start to the year than comparable businesses that do run them.
This suggests that – if you can – running a promotion is a smart thing to do. There are two caveats though:
If you can't create an offer that's congruent with your brand
The big sheds love a discount, and the truth is that discounting can not only result in you slashing margin and making less money but also in devaluing the brand you've worked hard to build.If the offer you create results in you making considerably less profit than you otherwise would
If your order book is nearly full and demand for your services is outstripping what you can supply, then making an offer that cuts your margin is pretty much the worst thing you can do this January.
In either of these cases, the answer is not to run a promotion but instead, get visible and promote your business for the overall value you offer year-round. Your story and your USPs.
However, the truth is that many independent kitchen retailers should run a specific promotion in the New Year. But, the key is thinking creatively – boring, vanilla '10% discount style' offers will get lost in a sea of sameness, so thinking outside the box is critical.
Another thing - not all offers are created equal, and you'll probably want to have at least a couple of offers up your sleeve depending on the situation:
Sales offers
These are kept in-house and used to get prospects over the line. You don't need to market these, so you can potentially be more generous, depending on what you will get out of the sale.Marketing offers
These are designed to get your wider, colder audience's attention and attract them to come and have a conversation with you. These messages need to make a splash in your market and give people a reason to pick up the phone and give you a call.
Both styles of offers can be hugely effective (when constructed correctly), but don't fall into the trap of thinking they're the same because they're not.
Long story short: if you're looking to hit the ground running this January, promoting yourself is a must. And if there's justification for it - running an actual promotion can be a smart move. But it needs time, effort and attention – the more of that you put in now, the more you'll reap the rewards in 2022.
