There is one question all have whether he or she is running a Startup or a billion-dollar company and that is…
…how to increase sales?
Today I am going to show you how you can increase sales for your business
These tips are divided into two types:
- Tips that gets immediate results
- Tips that gets short term or long term results
Let’s start with tips that can get you immediate results so you can start implementing it from today.
Tip 1: Ask for referrals:
Ask your existing clients for referrals. Best time to ask for referrals is when you get to hear good feedback about your work/product.
Don’t ask for reference if the client is not happy with your current work.
Tip 2: Announce price increase:
When you put the price increase on your website or a shop, it will convey to your prospects, two things:
They have limited time for the existing offer so they have to act fast
Indirectly it conveys that there is a demand for your product/service and you are doing great.
Tip 3: Do Google ads:
If you are selling a product or service which is searched in Google, then you can use Google ad to increase traffic and sales on your website.
If your product/service is unique and is not searched in Google then using Google ads is not a good idea.
Tip 4: Do Facebook ads:
Facebook ads are cheapest and best if you know your customer demographics pretty well. The amazing thing about Facebook ads is the flexibility it gives you in targeting your customer.
For example: You can target all women in 2 miles radius of your business, who likes hair dryers.
Bottom Line is: Use Google ads when your product or services have enough monthly search volume & use Facebook ads when you know complete profile of your customer.
Tip 5: Try BuySellAds.com:
Let’s say you are selling specialised equipment/service for which there is no search volume in Google nor you are sure of the customer profile. In this case, neither Google ads nor Facebook ads will help.
But you know that your target audience likes to visit some website let’s say abc.com. So you can go to BuySellAds.com and get ad placement on abc.com through them (assuming abc.com is listed on BuySellAds.com)
Tip 6: Get leads from Leads agency:
If you are in service business you know how important leads are. You can actually tie-up with Agencies who can provide you lead and you pay them on per Lead bash2is.
This can immediately increase your sales assuming your conversion process is decent.
Tip 7: Recover your lost sales:
If you sell products online you can increase your sales by using cart abandonment software.
Every time a user places an item in the cart but leaves the site before buying, this software will send an email and try to bring them back on the site to complete the purchase.
This can work well if you place some discount coupon code in that email.
Tip 8: Cross sell and upsell:
This can work obviously if you sell multiple products ( cross-sell) and or variation of existing products (upsell).
But what if you sell only one product with no variation?
Can you still upsell and cross-sell?
Yes, but in this case, you cross-sell your partner’s product or services.
You either do a Commission basis or ask your partner to cross-sell your products in exchange. Of course this partner and you should be targeting the same audience and both should not belong to the same industry.
Tip 9: Sponsor podcast / industry events / trade shows:
If there are podcasts with your target audience listens to, then sponsoring that podcast will get you brand recognition and possibly immediate sales.
Tip 10: Add customer testimonials:
Adding customer testimonials on your homepage is known to increase conversion but it can immediately increase sales when you put it on your checkout page.
The more authentic it looks the better it is. Try video testimonials for maximum impact.
Tip 11: Do Influencer Marketing:
If you have good budget then approaching your industry influencers for marketing can really boost your sales immediately.
Now let’s look at tips which will give results in the medium to long term time horizon:
Tip 12: Increase your sales team:
The more people you have in your sales team, the more prospects you can approach and the more sales you can make.
Of course, this assumes that new sales team members are competent enough and are approaching the right audience.
Tip 13: Tie up with partners with same target audience:
This tip applies to the service industry where such tie-up will give results in the medium to long term time horizon.
Tip 14: Have case studies on your website:
The impact of this will only be felt in medium to long term basis as it will gradually improve your conversion rates.
Tip 15: Use blogs as part of your sales funnel:
We all know that having blog on the site can increase site traffic.
But what if the visitors are not buying? In that case, you need blogs that are written with the intent of converting readers into paying customers.
These blogs should be part of your sales funnel and not just for bringing traffic.
Tip 16: Meet your customers at least once:
And I am not talking about meeting virtually via Skype or WhatsApp video chat.
I am referring to meeting physically in their place.
It makes a huge difference and brings the relationship to a more personal level. This tip is applicable if you are in Consulting or other services business.
Tip 17: Whom you know is more important than what you know:
Networking, networking, and networking. It’s very important to meet new relevant people by going to various seminars, industry trade shows, etc.
You should also join various online groups like Facebook, Reddit, Quora, etc. and participate actively to increase your business visibility.
Tip 18: Delegate:
One of the reasons why your sales may be down is because you might be spending lot of time doing non core activities like graphic design, website changes, accounting, etc instead of focusing on your main business activities like sales.
Free up your time by delegating low unimportant tasks to a virtual assistant or to a service like Half Pant Hippo (shameless self promotion).
We offer unlimited tasks like graphic design, website maintenance, digital marketing, etc. for a low monthly fee. Check out our plans here.
Tip 19: Don’t Delegate:
You can and should delegate all low impact tasks but areas such as sales should be done by you and not to be delegated.
If you are not doing sales you won’t understand the market trends for your customers and since you don’t know this, you cannot guide your sales team for reaching their targets.
Conclusion:
Start implementing these tips and you will start seeing the impact on your sales. Let me know which tip/s helped you the most by commenting below.
And if you have few sales tips of yours, comment those as well, I will include them (with credits to you, of course) in the next update of this article.
Good luck!
