The Clifton Review 

The Clifton Review is a tri-weekly column that examines the question of the Clifton project along with the evolution of the war between two billionaires. We covered the start of this war with articles describing the battle over easement rights, the mysterious burning of a home, the blocks to rebuilding, and countless questionable court filings.

While the 2018 series salutes fashion mogul Peter Nygård’s Golden Jubilee detailing his rags to riches story, his incredible business success over these past fifty years and an inside look at how he did it, The Clifton Review will also continue to address current affairs as they relate to the good of The Bahamas.

Strategic Approaches

By P.J. Malone

No business can strive and exceed business goals unless business leaders are able to set goals and strategize to achieve them. It is likely fashion mogul Peter Nygard’s exceptional ability with continuously crafting innovative strategies that has led to his phenomenal fifty-year success.

So how can businesses mirror Nygard’s successes? By also continuously strategizing.

The SMART goal we set as an example to counteract the impact of new competition is ‘to increase the business income by 20% for the upcoming fiscal year’. We are focusing on three approaches to achieve this goal. They center on,

• Increasing product sales each month 
• Offering more add-on items to each product 
• Adding new customers each month

We previously outlined examples for increasing product sales. Now let’s look at the idea of add-on sales. 

Add-on sales involves selling additional products related to the primary product a customer may have purchased. For example, if someone just bought a new music instrument, you may want to convince them to also purchase a cleaning kit for protecting the instrument. That’s an add-on sale that the customer may not have initially intended to make.

Add-on sales can work in almost any industry. You can see more and more businesses using this approach. Have you noticed how one of the first things that happens when you pull up to a fast food drive-through these days is that the attendant asks if you want to try their new whatever? They are trying to get you to purchase something in addition to what you originally intended.

Naturally, in restaurants, you would try to add on dessert. For an accountant who may offer auditing services, maybe they would want to offer an add-on of payroll services. For a small business, out-sourcing payroll services might be more economical.

For an insurance company, if they sell a house insurance policy, they may promote adding on coverage for the contents of a house. For a clothing store, they may add-on jewelry to compete an outfit. For massage services, they may sell a facial as an add-on service. 

In some cases, an add-on may not be a new service or product; it could be the same product but more of it at a better price—upselling. So instead of a customer buying one of the product, they can get two of that product for less than the price of each individually. The purpose is still to add-on sales.

This idea can also be combined with packages and or specials. For example, instead of purchasing a product alone, a business can also offer a choice of that product combined with other items related to the product and make the price very attractive for all.

For example, offer gym membership alone as well as gym membership combined with a few one-on-one private training sessions at a better price than if each were purchased individually. This works because paying for a private trainer is cost prohibitive for many. However, if offered as a part of a package deal, it is a lot more appealing financially.

So, there are a number of ways to present products that make them not just more appealing generally but that could also lead to add-on sales. The key is to think about the business you are in and think about ways you can present your offerings that are unique to your business and more advantageous than the competition.

Remember to capitalize on your business strengths also. If you combine a strength of having a popular product with a way for customers to purchase more of it at a more affordable price, you have a winning combination.

If you have the strength of strong product knowledge or expertise, combine it with the sale of that product. For example, if you sell a chain saw for example, add a training session on ‘how to make the most of its uses’ for a small fee; then you’d have an add-on sale as well as offering more value to your customers without it costing you much.

Next, strategies for adding new customers.