A discount strategy is a pricing approach where a business deliberately reduces the original price of its products or services. These strategies aim to stimulate sales, attract new customers, or clear out excess inventory by creating a sense of urgency and lowering the financial barrier for buyers.
Discount strategies come in many forms, each designed to achieve specific business goals like boosting sales or clearing inventory. These tactics can be tailored to different customer segments, purchase behaviors, and times of the year.
Discount strategies can significantly boost short-term sales and attract new customers. By lowering the financial barrier, they entice hesitant buyers to make their first purchase. This approach is also effective for clearing out old or seasonal inventory quickly, making room for new products.
Beyond acquisition, discounts can foster loyalty by rewarding repeat customers. Strategies like volume discounts encourage larger purchases, increasing the average order value. Well-timed offers can also reduce cart abandonment and re-engage dormant customers, strengthening relationships.
While related, discount and pricing strategies serve different business functions and have distinct long-term impacts.
While discounts can drive short-term gains, they often come with significant risks if not managed carefully. Many businesses fall into common traps that undermine their long-term health and profitability. These missteps can erode brand value and train customers to expect constant sales.
Many brands successfully use discounts to drive growth. Eyewear company Blenders achieved a 10x sales increase with automated flash sales, while personal care brand Spongellé saw its personalized discount quiz account for over 25% of revenue. These tactics show how targeted discounts can boost sales and customer engagement without devaluing the brand.
How can we offer discounts without devaluing our brand?
Focus on targeted, personalized offers rather than site-wide sales. Use discounts strategically for specific goals like clearing inventory or rewarding loyalty. This frames the discount as an exclusive opportunity rather than a sign of lower product value, preserving your brand's integrity.
How do you measure the ROI of a discount strategy?
Track metrics beyond just sales volume. Analyze customer acquisition cost (CAC), lifetime value (LTV) of discounted customers, and profit margins. Compare these against your baseline to determine if the short-term revenue lift justifies the cost and potential long-term impact.
Are discounts only for acquiring new customers?
No, they are also powerful for retention. Loyalty discounts reward repeat business and increase customer lifetime value. Volume or bundled discounts can also encourage existing customers to spend more, boosting average order value and strengthening the relationship.
Win/Loss Analysis is the process of systematically tracking and analyzing the reasons why you win or lose deals with prospective customers.
GDPR compliance means following the EU's strict data protection laws to ensure the secure and lawful handling of personal data.
Git is a distributed version control system that tracks changes in code, allowing developers to collaborate and manage project history effectively.
“Always Be Closing” (ABC) is a sales mantra meaning every action a salesperson takes should be with the ultimate goal of closing the sale.
Learn about below the line, including key strategies for below the line marketing, & distinguishing above and below the line tactics.
A cloud-based CRM is a customer relationship management tool hosted online, letting teams access and manage customer data from anywhere.
Intent-based leads are potential customers whose online actions—like searches or content engagement—signal a clear interest in buying a solution.
Account-Based Sales Development (ABSD) is a focused strategy where SDRs target key stakeholders within specific, high-value accounts.
Renewal rate is the percentage of customers who renew their subscriptions or contracts at the end of their service period.
Dynamic territories are fluid sales assignments that adjust based on real-time data, ensuring reps can focus on the highest-value accounts.
An elevator pitch is a short, memorable summary of what you do, designed to be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator.
Video hosting is a service that allows users to upload, store, and share video content online, making it accessible for playback anywhere.
Learn about B2B marketing channels, including maximizing B2B channel effectiveness, & exploring digital vs. traditional channels.
AI in sales uses smart technology to automate repetitive tasks, analyze customer data, and help sales reps close deals more efficiently.
Learn about business process management, including benefits of implementing BPM, steps to effective BPM, common BPM mistakes to avoid, & BPM tools and software.
Sales training is the process of honing a salesperson's skills and knowledge to enhance their effectiveness and drive sales success.
A horizontal market is one where a product or service is designed to meet a common need for a wide array of customers, regardless of their industry.
The open rate is the percentage of recipients who opened an email. It's a primary indicator of a subject line's effectiveness.
Direct mail is a marketing method where businesses send physical promotional materials directly to potential customers' mailboxes.
Contact discovery is the process of finding accurate contact details for potential leads, including names, emails, phone numbers, and job titles.
Learn about B2C2B, including how B2C2B transforms sales, key strategies for B2C2B success, & differences between B2C2B and B2B2C.
A competitive landscape is an analysis of your direct and indirect competitors, revealing their strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning.
CRM analytics is the process of analyzing data from your CRM to uncover insights that help you better understand and serve your customers.
Data enrichment is the process of enhancing raw data by adding missing information from other sources, making it more complete and actionable.
A sales champion is your internal advocate at a target company. They believe in your product and help you push the deal forward to close.
DevOps is a culture and set of practices that merges software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) to shorten development cycles.
Revenue forecasting is the process of estimating a company's future revenue, using historical data and market trends to guide strategic planning.
A channel partner is a company that works with a manufacturer or producer to market and sell their products, software, or services to customers.
Buyer’s remorse is the sense of regret or anxiety that can arise after making a purchase, often questioning if it was the right decision.
Freemium is a business model offering a product's basic features for free, while charging for advanced or supplemental features.
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is the predictable income a company expects to receive from its customers over a one-year period.
Overcoming objections is the process of addressing and resolving a prospect's concerns or hesitations to move a sale forward.
Lightning Components is a UI framework for building dynamic web apps for mobile and desktop devices on the Salesforce Lightning Platform.
CRM integration connects your CRM software with other tools, creating a unified system for all your customer data and business processes.
Consultative selling is a sales approach where a salesperson acts as an advisor, focusing on understanding and solving a customer's specific needs.
Shipping solutions are services or software that streamline the logistics of getting products to customers, from label printing to final delivery.
A Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) is a prospect vetted by marketing and sales, deemed ready for a direct sales pitch after showing intent to buy.
A User Interface (UI) is the point where humans and computers interact. It encompasses all visual elements like screens, icons, and buttons.
A lead generation funnel is a systematic process that guides potential customers from initial awareness of your brand to becoming qualified leads.
Signaling is using credible actions to convey information about quality or intent to a less-informed party, effectively building trust.
Regression testing ensures that new code changes don’t negatively impact existing features. It's a key step to maintain software quality after updates.
A Target Account List (TAL) is a focused list of high-value companies that a business specifically aims to convert into customers.
Triggers are predefined conditions that, when met, automatically launch a workflow or action, ensuring timely and relevant outreach.
Customer relationship marketing is a strategy for building lasting connections with customers to foster long-term loyalty and engagement.
Pipeline management is the process of tracking and managing potential customers as they move through the different stages of your sales process.
SPIN selling is a sales technique using a sequence of questions—Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-Payoff—to uncover a buyer's needs.
An electronic signature is a digital method for getting consent on electronic documents. It's a legally binding way to sign agreements online.
Agile methodology is an iterative approach to project management and software development, focusing on delivering value in small, incremental steps.
Competitive analysis means identifying your rivals and assessing their strategies to pinpoint your own business's strengths and weaknesses.
Mid-market companies are businesses larger than small businesses but smaller than large enterprises, often defined by revenue or employee size.
Learn about brand loyalty, including how to build brand loyalty, benefits of brand loyalty, measuring brand loyalty, & strategies for increasing loyalty.
An HTTP request is a message sent by a client, like a web browser, to a server to ask for a resource, such as a web page or an image.
Inventory management is the process of ordering, storing, and using a company's inventory, from raw materials to finished goods.
A go-to-market (GTM) strategy is an action plan that outlines how a company will reach target customers and achieve a competitive advantage.
A sales enablement platform centralizes content, training, and analytics to help sales teams engage buyers and effectively close deals.
Warm calling is contacting prospects with a prior connection, like a referral or social media interaction, to make your outreach more relevant.
A complex sale features a long sales cycle, multiple stakeholders, and a high-value transaction, demanding a strategic, consultative approach.
A sales bundle groups multiple products or services into a single offering, often at a discounted price to provide greater value to customers.
The Challenger Sales Model is a sales approach where reps challenge a customer's thinking by teaching, tailoring, and taking control of the sale.
Think of a trademark as a brand's unique signature—a word, symbol, or phrase that legally protects its identity and sets it apart from the rest.
A Sales Development Representative (SDR) is a sales specialist who finds and qualifies new leads, building a pipeline for the sales team.
Account-Based Sales (ABS) is a focused B2B strategy where sales and marketing teams treat high-value accounts as individual markets of one.
Order management is the end-to-end process of tracking customer orders from placement to fulfillment, ensuring a seamless customer experience.
Incident response is an organization's systematic approach to managing and mitigating the aftermath of a security breach or cyberattack.
Learn about business development representative, including skills and qualifications for BDRs, & roles and responsibilities of a BDR.
Price optimization is the process of finding the ideal price for a product or service to maximize profitability or other business objectives.
Revenue intelligence is the process of collecting and analyzing customer data to provide insights that help sales teams make smarter decisions.
A Marketing Qualified Account (MQA) is a target company that has shown significant engagement, indicating it's ready for the sales team to pursue.
Forward revenue is the total value of all active, committed contracts that are expected to be recognized as revenue in the future.
Email deliverability is the ability for your emails to successfully land in your recipients' inboxes instead of their spam folders.
Lead management is the process of capturing, nurturing, and qualifying leads to guide them from initial interest to sales-ready.
A sandbox is an isolated testing environment where new or untrusted code can be run safely without affecting the host device or network.
Email engagement measures how your audience interacts with your emails. It includes key actions like opens, clicks, replies, and forwards.
Customer Success is a business strategy focused on proactively helping customers achieve their goals with your product or service.
Learn about BAB formula, including implementing BAB in sales strategies, crafting an effective BAB pitch, & comparing BAB with other sales frameworks.
A positioning statement is a concise description of your target market and how your product or service uniquely fills their needs.
Customer centricity is a business approach that puts the customer at the heart of every decision, aiming to build loyalty and long-term value.
Tokenization is the process of breaking down text into smaller units called tokens, such as words or characters, for AI to process.
Functional testing verifies that software performs its intended functions as specified in the requirements, ensuring it works as users expect.
An Operational CRM is a system that automates and improves customer-facing business processes like sales, marketing, and customer service.
A sales sequence is a series of automated touchpoints sent to prospects over time to guide them through the sales funnel.
A sales pitch is a persuasive presentation of a product or service, aimed at convincing a potential customer to make a purchase.
User Experience (UX) refers to a person's overall feelings and perceptions while interacting with a product, system, or service.
Network monitoring is the continuous process of tracking a computer network's performance and health to detect and resolve issues proactively.
CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) software is a sales tool for creating accurate, configurable quotes for complex products and services.
User testing involves observing real users interact with a product to identify usability issues and improve the overall user experience.
Learn about business continuity, including understanding key components, steps to ensure continuity, common challenges, & best practices.
Warm outreach is contacting prospects with whom you have a pre-existing connection, like a mutual contact, making your message more personal and effective.
Demand generation is the process of creating awareness and interest in your products to build a pipeline of qualified leads for your sales team.
The customer lifecycle is the journey a person takes from first becoming aware of your brand to becoming a loyal, repeat customer.
Buying intent is the collection of online cues and behaviors that signal a prospect is actively researching and moving toward a purchase decision.
Customer loyalty is a customer’s devotion to a brand, shown by their repeat purchases and engagement, driven by positive experiences and trust.
A sales coach is a mentor who trains and guides sales reps to enhance their skills, boost performance, and ultimately close more deals effectively.
Churn, also known as customer attrition, is the rate at which customers stop doing business with a company over a given period.
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a contract defining the level of service between a provider and a client, including metrics and penalties.
Text message marketing is a strategy where businesses send promotional messages, offers, and updates to customers via SMS or MMS.
Mobile optimization adapts your website to ensure visitors on smartphones and tablets have a seamless, user-friendly experience.
Sales objections are reasons or concerns raised by a potential customer as to why they are hesitant or unwilling to make a purchase.
Learn about B2B2C, including benefits of B2B2C model, key strategies for B2B2C success, & B2B2C vs. B2C vs. B2B: understanding the differences.
Edge locations are globally distributed data centers that cache content close to users, reducing latency and delivering web content much faster.