This episode of the Breadwinner Podcast dives into the world of sales and incentives specifically tailored for sourdough micro bakery owners. Host Caroline Bower shares practical strategies to increase customer loyalty and drive sales, such as bundle deals, limited time offers, loyalty programs, and creative incentives. Learn how to make your customers feel valued and seen while growing a sustainable and profitable business.

00:11 Welcome to the Breadwinner Podcast

01:09 Understanding the Importance of Sales and Incentives

01:56 Knowing Your Customer

02:40 Creating Irresistible Offers

04:19 Implementing Loyalty Programs

06:25 Incentives to Delight Your Customers

11:37 Leveraging Technology for Sales

13:20 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Download the FREE Guide and Checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery at https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist to begin building YOUR thriving microbakery! 

Caroline Bower Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolinebower_sourdough

Episode 12

Welcome to the Breadwinner Podcast. This is the show for sourdough micro bakery owners who are building a sustainable, successful, profitable business from their home. If you are already in business or if you're dreaming of starting one, this is the place for you. I'm your host, Caroline Bower. I own a successful in home sourdough bakery, and I am here to share everything I've learned that works and that doesn't, plus everything that I'm researching along the way so we can build thriving businesses together.

Welcome back friends to another episode of the Bread Winner podcast!!

Today's topic is a fun one. And it's a crucial one for every micro bakery owner who wants to sell their product. So we're talking about sales and incentives.

First off, let's go ahead and get started right away by talking about Why sales and incentives are important. It's not just about increasing your revenue, though that is a big part of it. But it's also about building a loyal customer base.

Sales and incentives can help encourage word of mouth referrals. And create a sustainable business model that doesn't leave you feeling burnt out.

So this episode is going to share several ideas. But you do not need to apply all of these to your business. Listen to the episode, takes some notes. Consider the strategy that feels most aligned for you, and start with just one idea. Every business is different. Every business's needs are different. And so what might serve one business might not work very well for another one.

We've talked about this a little bit in a couple of other episodes, but it's really important to know who your customer is before you start trying to talk to them.

So we need to understand what they value, why they purchase. Are they health conscious parents. who are looking for nutritious options for their kids. Are they foodies who appreciate the artisanal quality of your products? Are they crunchy and they really want an organic non-GMO option. No matter where they're coming from, knowing who they are, why they buy helps you tailor your sales strategies and incentives to their specific needs.

So once you know who you're talking to the next facet of sales and incentives is creating irresistible offers.

For instance, a weekend breakfast bundle that includes a loaf of sourdough, a jar of homemade jam, and a pack of muffins. You might. Discount the price by a little bit, but they're buying a larger amount of products. So they're getting a deal. While you're moving quite a lot of product.

You can also offer discounts on bulk orders. So if someone buys five loaves, you could give them a discount on the sixth. This encourages larger purchases and someone who is going to keep coming back to you because they know they'll get a discount on their larger orders is more likely to be a repeat customer.

Anytime you can use urgency or scarcity, that's going to really increase the odds that, that product's going to sell quickly and sell well. People really respond to FOMO and are not going to want to miss out on that, on the opportunities to try a limited product.

Another strategy to try, could be loyalty programs. So you could think about implementing a loyalty program where customers earn points or stamps with each purchase that they can redeem for free products or discounts. This is really common with like coffee shops, where you get a punch on a card each time you ordered and can redeem that for free product once you fill up your card.

This is a really good way to foster customer loyalty, because if you can consistently talk about that rewards program. There'll be likely to keep coming back to earn their free reward.

punch cards through Canva. Just search Canva templates for punch cards. And then. Tweak and adjust to create. In your own business branding and then get it printed through Canva.

This relies on the customers, making sure that they have their card and remembering to get it punched. So there's definitely room for error here. But it can be really fun to have that physical card and actually punch it each time that people purchase. There are apps and programs that can simplify this though. And in our digital age, you may want to explore some options there.

So those are some ideas of offers that can really work to help engage new customers and keep customers coming back. Let's think a little bit about incentives now.

So incentives are the little extras. They make your customers feel valued and appreciated. And here are some ideas.

Number one is the referral program. You can encourage your customers to refer friends and family by offering incentives like a free loaf of bread for every referral that results in a purchase.

Another fun incentive would be special gifts. So occasionally you can include a small gift like cookies or something special in the order of a regular customer. These are fun to do just randomly with no kind of rhyme or reason, just to surprise and delight.

This could be a sample of a new product or a fun little recipe card. Or an extra item.

Another incentive idea is to offer some sort of exclusive access. So this could be exclusive access to new products. Or special events. Some people have a special group for taste testers. Or let your loyal customers be the first to try a new product. Maybe a sneak peek at your new seasonal menu. Or an invitation to a bread making workshop. If you use Instagram, you could set up a closed. A close friends group for your most regular loyal customers and let that be the place where you share exclusive access or sneak peaks or special invitations.

Another kind of creative idea could be a flash sale. Some people do this just as their business model. But for others, this could be a really fun [00:10:00] and unique option to move some quick product and use scarcity and kind of that sense of urgency. So I've done this before, when I had leftover product from a market that was rained out. But I just shared it on the porch and I put up a post that said "Flash sale! Message me for the address." And I let people just come and take what they wanted and pay what they can.

And that's a really fun way to reach customers who are spontaneous. Or not able to order from you on a regular basis, but might be able to come just at the drop of a hat when you have some random product.

You could try this with a new menu item that you're trying, you could post just a quick little limited quantity available first, come first, serve message me to claim or grab the address. Something like that as just a quick kind of fun flash sale.

That creates excitement, that fun surprise and delight factor. And then it gets them coming back to redeem. That coupon at a future date.

Now a lot of those ideas were organic and low tech. But let's not forget the impact and the power of technology in driving sales and incentives. So here are a few ways that you can leverage technology.

Social media, of course is a really powerful tool for growing and offering sales and incentives.

It's a great way to showcase your new products, share customer testimonials, and announce promotions. This is also a great way where you can incentivize people sharing. So you can invite people to share a review and then offer a little, thank you. In the next order for the people who do share a review or put up a giveaway post to celebrate a milestone and invite people to tag a friend. And like your post and then choose a random person who commented to give them a free loaf of bread or a discount or something.

Depending on what online orders ordering system you're using, you might also be able to offer some sales and incentives that way.

So a program like Hotplate allows you to create discount codes for customers.

So you might offer a discount code to reward a loyal customer after 10 purchases or something like that.

One of my favorite things about sales and incentives is making customers feel cherished and seen and valued. So the more you can do that, the more likely they are to be loyal and connected to your brand and to keep coming back.

I hope this episode gave you some fun ideas and got some wheels turning on ways that you can make your customers feel appreciated and valued. I would love to hear from you if you try any of these, or if you have a fun idea that I didn't share here.

Sales and incentives can be a great way to boost your revenue when it's slow or to create a compelling sense of urgency around seasons, and to engage with the customers that you wouldn't reach otherwise.

Thank you so much for spending some time out of your day with me, I will be back soon! Until then. Happy baking.