Welcome to part 2 of our 2-part series on leaning out your offers and preparing your business for a profitable Q4 and 2021. Part 1 focused on your offers and auditing your business. Today, we are going to dive into how to take your offers and leverage strategies for holiday promotions that work well for service based businesses that don't include discounting.
Instead of offering a discount, offer a bonus and additional value.
Some examples:
- Bundle together 3 of your top selling courses or programs and offer them for the price of either 1 or 2 of the programs
- I had been considering investing in a course for a while and when the Black Friday special came out where I could get the course I wanted PLUS 2 other courses I had been eyeing, all for the same price, I immediately purchased it.
- This is a great way to move those sitting on the fence into action.
- Offer an exclusive bonus for someone who enrolls in one of your high-end programs - such as a private coaching call, or an exclusive closed-door group coaching call.
- Make the bonus offer so valuable and aligned to what your ideal target customer wants, that it becomes a no-brainer to invest.
- Add a bonus session onto your coaching packages, so if they normally get 6 sessions with you, add in a 7th
- Add in something done-for-you that won't take you and your team a lot of time but that would be hugely valuable to your clients
- I map out the content management process flows for my private coaching clients and they love it
- Do a BOGO (buy one get one) specifically focused on bringing in new clients - book one session for your loved one and get one for yourself, or buy 3 sessions and get a 4th to gift to someone else
- This is also a really great option if you do anything in person where people would really value bringing a friend / partner, such as spa services, or yoga classes, etc.
You can also do a 'last chance' offer.
Some examples:
- Prices go up at the end of the year. This is your last chance to enroll at this rate/buy at this price.
- Program/offer goes away at the end of the year. This is your last chance to be a part of it/get it.
- We're closing the doors to this version of the program. Register now to get whatever the current version includes that the new version doesn't - such as a higher level of support.
- For example - Want private coaching from me as part of your membership? This is the last time I am including private coaching sessions as part of our monthly membership program.
Combining Holiday Promos with Leaning Out Your Offers
If you did the activities in the first part of this series, you should now know which of your offers are ones you are going to keep, which you are going to cut or hold, and which you are going to change.
As you determine your holiday promos and consider the options listed above, leverage your decisions on your offers for your holiday promos.
Using the examples above, you can:
- Bundle together products/programs/services you will be retiring into a special last chance bundle
- Promote the current version of your program, announcing that it will be changing and the price will be increasing in the new year
- Make it extra enticing to invest in the core offer that you will be focusing on next year by bundling in some of the other offers you have, including ones you will be retiring
Although I believe strongly in bonusing and offering additional value instead of discounting for service based businesses, the one exception is that when you are retiring a product / program/ or service forever, you can sometimes offer it at a special price.
This should very much be the exception and please note that if you choose to do this, make sure you are not discounting anything that involves your time. If it is a DIY course or program, that's one thing. But if it is coaching with you, never discount, even if it is being retired.
What holiday promos are you going to do this year? And how are you going to bonus and add additional value instead of discounting?
by Crista Grasso
Crista Grasso is the go-to strategic planning expert for leading global businesses and online entrepreneurs when they want to scale. Known as the "Business Optimizer", Crista has the ability to quickly cut through noise and focus on optimizing the core things that will make the biggest impact to scale a business simply and sustainably. She specializes in helping businesses gain clarity on the most important things that will drive maximum value for their clients and maximum profits for their business. She is the creator of the Lean Out Method, 90 Day Lean Out Planner, and host of the Lean Out Your Business Podcast.
