BOOST SALES FAST WITH ZERO BUDGET
Public relations is your secret weapon to raising awareness and credibility without emptying your pockets. BY MELANIE REMBRANDT
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ou need more marketing to improve sales, but you need more sales to pay for marketing. It can be frustrating. Well, before you yell out your favorite four-letter word, turn to the bottle or curl up in the fetal position and cry, there is a secret weapon that can help end this vicious cycle. And the good news is, it won’t cost you a dime. Sound too good to be true? It’s not. I’m talking about public relations (PR), which refers to any kind of communications you have with potential customers, clients, the media and more. When you send the right message to the right people at the right time, you can boost sales, awareness and credibility within minutes. Now, PR may be a foreign activity to you, but the truth is that anyone can do it. In fact, you can get better results than hiring someone to do it for you.
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If you can’t think of anything, don’t worry. Just create something newsworthy.
As a leader within your business, you offer credibility with firsthand knowledge of your products and services and industry expertise. This is because most people would rather hear directly from you than a publicity person. As a leader within your business, you offer credibility with firsthand knowledge of your products and services and industry expertise. Many businesses don’t really understand what PR is, so they don’t use it effectively. If they do, they probably outsource it to an outside firm. That’s because it takes a lot of time and effort to get good results. But, if you need to boost sales fast with zero budget, it can be your secret weapon for success.
Hold an employee event like a chili cook-off, take-your-child-to-work day, pet contest or something else.
WHERE TO BEGIN Like other business activities, start with an action plan so you know your goals and how you are going to accomplish them. Let’s say your goal is to boost sales by 20 percent in the next month. Ask yourself these questions: What is newsworthy about your business? Think about the unique benefits of your products and services, upcoming events, charitable activities, employee hobbies, and more. What would your potential customers want to hear about that make you stand out from the competition?
You can also partner with another business or organization and do a joint event that helps others in the local community. Another idea is to invent a special award, tip sheet or contest. Use your imagination and have your team think of different ideas. Have fun with it, and you may be surprised at what develops. Who needs to hear your news? Once you have your news ready to promote, make a list of the people who need to hear about it. Begin with venues that cover local, industry and regional news. Conduct online research to find contact continued on page 10
HVACR BUSINESS MAY 2020
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