Businesses both large and small need to generate and increase sales. In this article, we look at some simple techniques that can multiply your sales and take them through the roof!
Build your Email list.
Yes, this is basic but it is essential to build your own email list. You should be collecting the email of all prospects that contact you. If you are relying on social media for your prospects it’s important to remember that you often do not have the prospects direct contact details. If you do not have the contact details, you are not the owner of the data, the platform is!
If for some reason, the platform were to close or ban you, you could lose all of your following in one hit. When collecting personal data remember to get permission and to follow the law in your jurisdiction.
Automate your email marketing campaign.
Once you have a reasonably sized list, automate it. Set out an automated campaign using Mailchimp, Sendinblue, Hubspot or other email marketing platforms.
Send out useful and varied information to your contacts on a monthly basis. include an area in your email where they can easily unsubscribe if they wish to. Always include a “Call to Action” in your email. (ie. ask them to do something), such as; “to book click here”.
Add new prospects/leads to your list daily.
Your list should not be stagnant and stale. You should be adding to your list daily by carrying out activities in your sales process to generate new prospects. Activities such as PPC (Pay per Click) advertising, calling potential prospects, offering free downloads in exchange for an email, can all generate new contacts. Adding just 10 new contacts a day will add 200 contacts to your list per month or 2400 in a year.
Remember to add these fresh contacts to your automated campaign above, so they are automatically kept in the loop.
Don’t forget to remove old data from your list periodically too.
Remove all friction from the sales process.
Have you ever walked into a shop to buy something and had to wait forever to get served? Have you been tempted to walk out? This is an example of friction in the sales process.
Analyse your business and try and see where the friction is. Are too many prospects dropping off your website quickly without browsing? Is your site loading too slowly? How long do customers have to wait before they get a response from an enquiry? If customers are having to wait for more than 24 hrs for a response to an enquiry, you have probably lost that customer!
How easy is it to purchase from you? Do you have a complicated sales page with a cumbersome registration process? Does it take days or weeks to generate an invoice for a client? Do you offer only one payment option? If any of the above rings true, you must tweak your processes to make it as easy as possible to buy from you.
Amazon has got this down to a ‘fine art’, you can view your product, read reviews, find technical specs, purchase in two clicks and view tracking information, very easily.
Once you have fine-tuned your process you will reduce the number of emails and calls from customers asking questions and most importantly reduce the friction in the process and make it a joy for clients to purchase from you.
Review your pricing.
When was the last time you reviewed your pricing? Are your pricing methods putting customers off buying from you? Do you withhold pricing on your marketing material? How does your pricing compare to competitors?
Reviewing your pricing does not necessarily mean reducing the price. Sometimes the way pricing is presented to the customer can have a dramatic effect on the perceived ‘cost’ of the item. We all know of the $99 option instead of $100. How you present your prices can have an effect on your sales.
For example; if you are selling a service, rather than displaying one price you could consider having three tiers of increasing cost. Most customers will select the mid-tier, but every once in a while a client will select the top tier. Having too many options can have the opposite effect on a customer, so be careful not to bamboozle them with too many options.
Withholding pricing on your website or marketing materials can be useful if you are certain the prospect will contact you to ask for the price. Bear in mind that If there is no price the prospect may assume the service is too expensive and not bother to reach out to check. You should test to see what generates the most enquiries.
Referral program.
A referral program is an easy and effective way to boost sales. At the end of each sales process ask your new client for a referral and reward them for it. Generating referrals is very powerful and offers you that elusive word of mouth recommendation. Ensure you don’t blow it, continue to offer a top-quality service to both the referral and referrer moving forward. Be sure to honour your referral rewards.
Offer incentives, customer discounts.
Do you treat all your customers the same? If the answer is yes you can possibly boost sales here with a few tweaks. Your best customers are the easiest to sell to, so it’s important to incentivise them to buy more. Existing clients should be offered special deals and time-limited discounts. Not only does this make the client feel valued, they will also often be happy to buy more from a trusted provider.
Offering deals or incentives to new clients can make the difference in having them sign-up. So don’t be afraid to offer incentives to clients based on the length of time they have been a customer.
Listen to the client’s needs.
Do you offer an easy way for clients to offer feedback? If the answer is yes, do you listen to that feedback? If customers are giving negative feedback on your service or product you need to look at that as a matter of urgency.
If the feedback is justified (be honest!), something must be done immediately to correct it. Negative feedback can slowly drain the life out of a business.
Don’t forget to upsell.
The best time to get an additional sale is just before checkout. Would your product or service work better with an additional accessory or option? Don’t forget to ask the prospect at your checkout process. Automating your upsell can generate large increases in sales. Don’t be tempted to make the upsell a large convoluted affair, it should be a simple minor additional item. If not you run the risk of delaying or at worst losing the sale.
Build your reputation via PR and news articles.
Having a good reputation or solid brand cannot be underestimated. What do you see when you Google your business or yourself as the founder? If you have no inclusions on websites other than your own, you probably need to work on your reputation and authority. Aim to get articles and reviews in online newspapers and news feeds. If you have a budget you can hire a PR (Public Relations) agent or write a press release and send it out yourself.
Build your social reputation via social media.
It’s important to build a decent social media presence for your venture. Ensure you post engaging content that is useful to your followers rather than just ‘sales’ material.
Have a direct contact that prospects can use.
Aim to have an actual email address that clients can use rather than an anonymous contact form. Publish your physical office address if you have one and your telephone number. This will instil confidence and trust in your new prospects.
Website SEO.
Assess your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. How many sites link to you? Where are you currently ranking in search engines for your most important keywords? Getting this right can drive large amounts of free organic traffic to your site.
Start a Blog.
Don’t forget to start a blog. Yes, it will take some time to build and write sufficient articles but a good blog can drive free traffic to your site indefinitely and hopefully drive more prospects. Ensure your blog is informative and useful to your readers.
Get Funded.
Looking for investors for your business? Check out our Pop Up World Investor Connector Also, take a look at our Cryptocurrency for Entrepreneurs Pop Up World Token (PUW)
Doing all of the above could easily 10X your sales! If you enjoyed this article please remember to like and subscribe for regular entrepreneur advice on Pop Up World.
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