You have worked so hard and invested so much of your time, energy, and money to build a business from the ground up that you hope could serve your community well. After months, if not years, of toiling, you are ready to welcome your customers into your shop.
How do you run a successful opening day? Here are some tips.
Advertise, Advertise, Advertise
Your event would not be a success if there are no people coming into your store to check out the products and services you offer. First, you have to let them know that there is a new business in town.
Announce the store’s opening in banners, social media posts, commercials, etc. Load your HP 831 Latex Maintenance Cartridge to print out eye-catching signs and flyers. Create a buzz online by posting content on your social media pages and interacting with interested customers. Alert the press.
Offer Gifts
However, curiosity alone will not be enough to ensure that there will be streams of people coming into your store on opening day. Give them another reason to go out of their houses and drive/walk into your doors.
To further encourage them to come, offer discounts and free stuff.
Invite Influential People
Celebrities, influencers, politicians have their own followers who would be willing to go to your shop, too. If you can, invite a prominent personality to cut the ribbon, take photographs, say a few words, or meet fans on opening day.
Ask All Your Friends to Come
If a potential customer sees that your store is packed, they will feel encouraged to come in and check out what you offer.
So, tell your family, friends, friends of friends, and acquaintances to come. A store that is never empty will stir more attention.
Prepare Your Staff
If you followed the steps above, you can expect to have a packed store on opening day. Make sure that your staff can handle the deluge of people.
You should be able to provide great service even if there are dozens of customers in the store. You have to make sure that every visit, every transaction is positive and memorable to each customer.
It is difficult to convince people to enter your store on the first day, but keeping them coming back is a bigger challenge. Aside from high-quality products at reasonable prices, an excellent in-store experience will make customers want to visit again.
Extend Promotions
Your work does not end after a successful opening day. In fact, your work has only begun.
You are going to have to work to sustain the interest that the public has over your store. One way to do that is to extend promotions, or launch a new one, on the following days and weeks after your event.
It will give customers, who were not able to attend the opening day, incentive to check out your store. It will also encourage customers, who were present on opening day, to come back and make another purchase.
Continue advertising the promotions on social media and all the channels available to you.
Following the event, ask customers for feedback through surveys. Read and respond to reviews that may appear online — good or bad (but do not be aggressive toward those who had an unpleasant experience). Continue posting on social media to sustain interest. Most importantly, keep providing good products and services.
