I was talking with a group of business associates other day and one question popped up that was of particular interest. “Is everyone finding that sales come MUCH slower these days?” The answer from all on call was a resounding yes! The next question won’t surprise you… “What do we do about it?”

There is no doubt that individuals and business people alike are becoming more and more cautious with their money. Rather than buying anything and everything that peaks their interest, serious consideration is being given to each and every expense. That’s natural in a recession.

What that means is advertising copy has to work harder and better. No longer will a simple quip like, “You’ll love it” or “Be first to own one” work. You have to earn each purchase. You have to prove your worth.

People who live and work in recession-laden times have specific criteria for making purchases. If your product or service “qualifies”, you get sale. The challenge comes in determining what it takes to qualify.

I’ve said it a thousand times: “Before you write one word, get inside mind of your customer.” You have to understand who person/business is, what they need, what they want… and then give it to them.

In a recession, focus turns from “trying” to “getting results”. Those who might, in an ordinary economy, try something just to see if it would work will now demand proof of results. Those who would normally take a risk will now ask for guarantees.

In order to build trust and create an atmosphere conducive to converting cautious visitors into customers, you’ll need to make three things obvious in your copy:

Kevin Clark (“Mr. Entrepreneur”) is a high-energy champion for those who want to start a business or get more profit out of their business. He’s a regional winner of prestigious Entrepreneur Of The Year Award and was inducted into Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame.

Pretty impressive, don’t you think? Me, too! But just wait until you read what he has to say about increasing buying frequency from your customers. You’ll be truly amazed at how easy it is!

KARON: Hi Kevin. Thanks for your time today. I just know you have a world of information about how we can all increase profits without huge expense of marketing to and getting new customers.

KEVIN: My pleasure, Karon. I’m ready to go!

KARON: I’ve been to your site and you talk a lot about “lifetime value of customers”. Most know that one-time sales are not key to big profits. But is there a way to create a "plan" for increasing lifetime sales?

KEVIN: Yes, by understanding and using following strategy:

Acquire customers at breakeven and make substantial profit on back end.

KARON: Expand on that, Kevin.

KEVIN: Sure… this is one of most overlooked and underutilized strategies in your marketing tool kit for growing your business. The key ingredient is to determine if your business has a high probability of customers or clients who come back to repurchase same (or different) products/services from you frequently.

If you do, you owe it to yourself to do everything within your power to get customers into buying stream as quickly and easily as you can.

This technique focuses on keeping an eye not toward beginning of relationship, but on continuation and recurring relationship from bringing clients into your business.

KARON: So, let me see if I understand you right. IF I have other products/services to offer, I can bring a customer into my business with a sale, a bargain rate, etc. as long as I have a strategy for getting them to buy repeatedly? Is that right?

KEVIN: Yes! The majority of your profits will come on “back end”.

Ask yourself this question:

”How much would it be worth if I brought in an extra “X” new customers this month, not making a dime of profit on initial transactions, but making enormous profits on all repeat transactions for next 12 months?”

KARON: Hmmm… I’d have to give that some thought. I guess it depends on how many product/services I have to offer them, right?