Marketing Ideas for a Small Sandwich Shop

With a limited marketing budget, you should select and implement marketing ideas for your sandwich shop that will give you the highest return at the lowest cost. Attract current and prospective customers by providing a quality sandwich at a reasonable price in order to increase your sales volume and beat out the competition.

According to the FranchiseKnowHow website, it costs more to acquire a new customer than maintain relationships with existing customers. In addition, persuading current customers to buy more from you is not difficult because they already know, like and trust you. To sell more to existing customers, encourage them to buy from you more often by offering a free sandwich after they pay for ten.

Find people in your market who also sell to your sandwich shop customers, but don't compete with you, advises Jay Abraham in "Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got." Get these companies to promote your business and you, in turn, can promote theirs. For example, if you are located in a shopping mall that has a dry cleaner, ask management to hand out discount coupons for your shop and you can do the same for the cleaners.

When a customer checks out, offer a discount certificate to buy from you again, and explain the savings. Without investing in advertising, this strategy, called a bounceback, can build your business, according to the Quantified Marketing Group. Use it to get customers to return during days and hours where business for your shop is slow. You also may offer customers a discount if they return for sandwiches within the next 24 or 48 hours.

Consider having weekly specials during off hours to increase your sales when traffic is normally slow. Schedule a weekly after-work dinner event to attract people working at local businesses in the area. Also, create and promote special events for each of the national holidays.

The Food Service Warehouse recommends that you sell gift tokens. This provides a way for you to expand your customer base and improves cash flow because the certificates are paid for before they are actually used. Gift tokens could be used as birthday presents, holidays gifts and graduations. Promote gift token sales at the cash register, counter and tables with a tent sign.

The Restaurant Report website advises that you build a mailing list and ask those who fill it out to indicate important dates, such as a birthday. Before the time comes, send a postcard for a free sandwich on that special day.