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Business-minded entrepreneurs are focused on one path to success: establishing a business and achieving sustainable growth. While the direction is clear and the mission is straightforward, the path is full of challenges and missteps — but more importantly, there are opportunities.
More often than not, the path to sustainable growth requires creativity. For example, a fitness studio that sells class passes and memberships will eventually hit a revenue plateau. This happens when growth stabilizes and income from the core service hits a predictable cadence. While there are still opportunities to sell more classes and memberships, the reality is that other revenue streams — specifically, value-add products and services – are what will truly help scale the business.
What are value-added products and services?
Value-add products and services enhance the customer experience, address pain points and demonstrate the company’s commitment to providing exceptional value. These “perks” offer customer benefits that go beyond the business’s core products or services.
Offering value-added products and services to your existing customer base can create more loyal customers, which in turn can lead to increased revenue, improved customer retention, and a reinforced brand reputation.
Related: 3 Easy Ways of Getting Value Addition Right During Entrepreneurship
Here are three value-add products and services that can help your business scale:
1. Digital cards
Digital cards are virtual business cards stored in a digital wallet. They can be shared electronically via QR code scans, email, social media or messaging apps.
Digital cards provide a convenient, digitized way to share your company’s contact information, keep customers updated in real-time, and offer exclusive deals, offers, or other perks. In essence, they help increase a brand’s visibility by always being a few taps away. The cars can also improve customer engagement and enhance the customer experience by providing special discounts or notifications exclusive to those who have the digital card.
Some platforms can help you create and manage a digital card, and most are affordable and turnkey. The predicted ROI of the investment is tied to awareness and engagement, which, when activated with an accompanying strategy, will boost sales and revenue.
To launch a digital card initiative, research digital care platforms and identify the providers that offer solutions aligned with your business goals, needs, and budget.
2. Extended warranties and service plans
While not always looked at as value-add, extended warranties and service plans provide coverage beyond a standard manufacturer’s warranty. These warranties and plans offer peace of mind to customers and can increase their confidence in your products or services.
The additional perks and sense of security can increase customer satisfaction. If your company has the capacity and can help resolve customer issues quickly and effectively, these benefits can reduce customer churn, increase customer lifetime value, and enhance the company’s reputation and dedication to quality and satisfaction.
The investment associated with extended warranties and service plans will vary depending on the product or service and the length of coverage. To determine the viability of this option, create a cost-benefit analysis, which will help determine if this value-added option will be beneficial and worth the investment.
If you plan to add extended warranties or service plans to your business, evaluate the demand to ensure your customers will appreciate them. Then, find a reputable partner who can help ensure the new offerings are legally sound, competitive, and will meet your customers’ needs.
Related: If You Want Your Clients to Truly Value You, You Need to Be Their Trusted Advisor. Here’s How.
3. Loyalty programs
Loyalty programs are most often focused on rewarding customers for their continued patronage. The programs encourage repeat business and foster brand loyalty by recognizing and rewarding customers based on their behaviors (and the rewarded behaviors can go beyond just the purchase history).
Whether the loyalty program is perks-based or offers rewards points associated with discounts and coupons, loyalty programs ultimately incentivize customers to keep coming back. They enhance and trigger engagement and offer opportunities for feedback. In addition, loyalty programs launched with the right intentions and an effective structure can provide valuable first-party customer data that will help you understand your customers’ preferences and lead to a higher degree of personalization and targeted offerings.
To implement a loyalty program, identify the “loyal” audience (demographics, behaviors, etc.) and program goals, and map out the program structure. Then, do some research and contact loyalty program providers that offer a platform and tech stack that complements your existing infrastructure.
Leverage value-add products and services to scale
To scale a business, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can add value and create additional revenue streams by staying true to your business and developing complementary products or services that align with what you offer and what customers want. Adding these digital offerings can make it simpler to scale by boosting profitability and accelerating business growth.
Louis Lombardi
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