If you’re one of the few snow plow, de-icer, and other winterizing heavy equipment suppliers, we’re surprised you’ve even had the time to read this article (but thank you all the same!). For everyone else, you’re probably seeing your heavy equipment supply orders dry up – or more likely, freeze up – as a significant part of the country suffers from what news people are exploding all over themselves to call the coldest weather the country has ever seen (one CNN article simply screamed "DON'T GO OUT THERE" in huge typeface). Here’s some advice to beat the freeze with revenue-increasing tips that’ll have you saying “Let it snow!”
Check That Inventory
Take advantage of periods like this freeze-out to get a handle on your inventory. You can’t sell what you don’t know you have. Get your returns on order, call in supplies that seem missing-on-arrival, and prepare ways to get in touch with customers who are looking for what you’ve suddenly found.
The Anti-Snow Day
You and your staff can have a snow day of your own, even if you’re walking around in t-shirts. Take the slow sales time as a way to educate the team on new products. Make sure sales people know every feature, product upgrades, fixes, and add-ons, so they can sell them. Get technicians hands-on time that they may not have during traditional high volume pushes. Plan days or even weeks out for call sheets, delivery maps, and more so that when the country bounces back, you’ll already be ready.
Always Be Open
Freezing temperatures can dock your sales in two ways. First, your business itself may be affected – snowed in, frozen shut, unplowed. Second, your customers may not be able to get to you because of their own cold-inflicted situations. In one swoop, you can combat both these issues. Take the time to upgrade your website (don’t have one? Guess when’s the best time to get one up and running?) and make it easy and simple for online ordering.
Use off days like these to do product photo sessions. You don’t just want a head-on view of your latest bulldozer. Customers thinking of making such a hefty purchase want to see side and back views, cabin interiors, the view out the windshield, the control panels, and more. Consider adding how to videos, technical tutorials, customer commentary, and more – all to make your website something snowed-in people (who have all the time in the world) can spend their sudden extra time on.
Sprinkle Some Easy Payments
As you wait for people to dig out and start ordering again, you can also maximize revenue by reviewing your payment options. Are you making the most ways to pay available to your customer base? Something like a natural disaster or massive freeze-out can really bring this into focus. Customers who want to buy your machinery may be, literally, frozen out of their accounts. If they haven’t been able to pay off their credit cards in time, their open-to-buy may be frozen solid shut. If your regulars are requesting to buy over the phone rather than snow-ski their way to your retail location, you’ll be taking on much heftier fees, as your credit and debit “card not present” charges skyrocket when you don’t have the actual card to swipe through.
Turn up the heat with the ability to pay with multiple checks. Multiple check is a program offered by a check guarantee company that allows the customer to give you 2-4 checks to cover a purchase. The checks are deposited to your bank over a 30 day period, and you’re guaranteed the payment. People who can’t get out to get their hands on a paycheck or transfer funds will appreciate your extension of a bit of warmth their way.
Before you build that snowman, toast a marshmallow, or pile blankets by the fire, rub two sticks together and download our free guide to the multiple-check service, below. And stay safe out there!
