Without sales your business does not exist, no matter how organised you are or how great your team is. Listed here are some tips that can help you with increasing sales, resulting in growing your profits and expanding your business.
- Create a USP
Your prospects need to know why they should buy from you instead of your competitors. Your USP is something that makes you stand out from the competition. For example, a building company may say “We’re not just the best builders in town, but we’re the only builder who offers a no hassle, money back guarantee on all our work!” – your USP is the opportunity to highlight what makes your company better than others.
What can your USP be based on? Here are some ideas:
- The highest quality
- Better customer service
- Ease of purchase
- Awards and achievements
- Anything that you specialise in
- Acquiring
Thanks to the internet, consumers are now able to compare features and price, research customer feedback, and choose the best offer. Although the internet allows businesses to sell to many more people, it also means that businesses have to meet higher expectations, and figure out ways to stand out.
To increase more sales, you need to consistently acquire to new customers. You need to provide something that your potential customer just can’t say no to. The initial goal isn’t to make a profit, but to acquire customers who you can sell to again. This will give you the opportunity to gain trust – buyers of today are more hesitant to put their hands in their pockets than ever before.
Some examples of acquisition offers:
- An architect company could provide free whitepapers on design ideas, or what to consider when planning a project. Chances are, people who download the whitepapers and find them useful are likely to go back to the same company for an architect.
- A massage therapist who offers an introductory session, which can be used to educate clients on how important it is to receive a good massage on an ongoing basis and how they can benefit from it.
Have a think about what you could use as a low-priced, high-value acquisition offer in your business.
- Would you like fries with that?
As you may know, McDonald’s does not make much money on the sale of just its burgers. However, by adding side dishes and soft drinks and making them into value meals, it makes plenty more money through a bigger sale. This is the art of maximising profit.
Just like the cinema – they don’t make all of their money from film tickets, but from the highly-priced food and beverages that they also provide.
Want to increase sales? Think about what upsells you could offer to your existing customers. If your customer is already buying everything you offer, then think about your competitors and if they offer something that you don’t.
- Provide exclusivity
A generalisation that is often true is “I’ll buy it later” means “I’ll buy it never.” Providing exclusivity and scarcity helps you to not miss out on sales from customers who are going to buy “later”. If you would like to increase sales rapidly, convince your customers that they need to buy now, and try to figure out ways to inject exclusivity into your business. Some ways to do this are:
- Offer limited-time promotions.
- Offer a limited-time extra bonus with each purchase.
- Provide a bonus to one of more randomly selected customers who buy within a certain amount of time.
- Offer certain products/services seasonally only.
- Make them come to you
Do you want strategies that increase sales? Keep your sales team happier? Make your prospects like you more?
You need to be able to draw your ideal customers to you – by networking. Effective networking can be summed up in three points:
- Get out and build strong relationships with lots of people.
- Be generous and always try to add value to the lives of others.
- Do your best to become a local celebrity.
The first two points are quite straightforward. Build up strong connections with people to gain trust, especially ones who would be good prospects. Always do your best to be a genuine person and a good friend.
As far as becoming a celebrity goes, don’t worry, I’m not talking about David Beckham or Brad Pitt type of fame. But establish yourself and your company as the expert in your field. Ways to do this are:
- Starting a blog on popular websites or writing articles in your local newspapers. You could even write a short book if you have a lot of knowledge in your industry.
- Public speaking. Holding seminars or workshops locally can help you to gain high credibility and it can show that you are confident and knowledgeable in your industry.
- Get involved in leadership. Use trade associations and charity events not just to network, but to build relationships with group leaders and high-up business owners.
By developing relationships with your customers and prospects you are likely to see a sales increase in your business. New customers will be drawn to you.
