Was your business’s bottom line at the end of the year not as healthy as you’d have liked? Even if things are looking good, they could always be that little bit better. The key to a healthier bottom line is usually better sales. Sure, you can make cutbacks, but it’s much more sensible to sell more people first. Here are some great selling techniques that can make that possible.
Break Down Your Aim into Specific Selling Goals
Rather than having one goal that goes something like “we need to sell more”, it can be much more useful to break that down. Having smaller and more specific selling goals will make it much easier for you to focus on what your business is trying to achieve. It will also make things easier for your employees. When you have a team of people who are all working towards the same ends, it’s important that everyone involved knows what the specific goals are. If they are not able to focus on those specific goals, it can all become confused.
Prioritise the Customer’s Needs
You should think, first of all, about what your customers need. If you assume that what your customers think they need rather than what they want is more important, you will be able to sell better. This is because you can focus on persuading people that you have the answer to their needs. If you can offer them a solution to a problem, then half of the hard work has already been done. Be creative when emphasising the aspects of your products that offer a tangible and practical benefit for customers. If it turns out to be something that customers simply can’t get from anywhere else, it could help you to shift a lot of units.
Add an Element of Gentle Competition
If you have a team of sellers who sell to customers over the phone or in person, you should add some gentle competition. Of course, if you operate largely on the internet, this won’t be as applicable. But many companies to rely on telesales. When you try to make the workplace environment a bit more competitive, you have to be very careful. You don’t want to put pressure on people as this can lead to extra unnecessary stress. Instead, turn it into a positive thing that can be enjoyed in the workplace. Creating an oppressive atmosphere in the office will only hurt your sales though.
Try Out Pay Per Click Advertising
When you need more visibility for your brand on the internet, pay per click advertising can be the best solution. It’s a great driver of revenue, and it’s cost-effective because if there is no click, you make no payment. With the right ad, put in the right place at the right time, it is so easy to reach your target audience via pay per click advertising. But that doesn’t mean that PPC is easy; it’s not. If you want to learn about training that can help you succeed at PPC advertising, see more at Simplilearn.com/digital-marketing/pay-per-click-ppc-certification-training. It will be worth all the time and effort involved.
Always Ask for Feedback
If you want to sell better, you need to know what you’re doing wrong to begin with. And you can only find that out if you’re prepared to ask questions and listen carefully to the answers you receive. Asking customers for feedback has never been easier. All you need to do is follow up each online purchase a few weeks after the sale was made. Ask them if they would be willing to offer feedback on the service they received and the product they bought. You can ask a range of questions, but don’t make it too time-consuming to fill out. The responses you get could help you to make improvements that lead to more sales.
Sell at Trade Shows if Possible
Selling to people face to face can be difficult for a lot of small businesses. So many of them only get the chance to sell products online nowadays. But it is still possible to make face to face contact and practice selling skills in the physical world. The best opportunities come from trade shows and events that are relevant to the industry in which your business operates. You have to set up an exhibition and get to grips with grabbing and then holding people’s attention as they pass by. It’s a pretty tough learning curve if you’ve never done it before, but it’s a great way to make more sales.
Always be Careful Not to Annoy People
When trying to sell a product, it’s easy to forget that there are other things that matter. But when you’re in sell-mode, there is nothing else that you think about. That’s not always a positive thing though. In fact, it can be very damaging because it means that you don’t take other people into account. It’s very important not to annoy people when you are selling an item. Let’s face it, pretty much nobody enjoys being on the receiving end of a hard sales pitch. It’s simply off-putting. And the same kind of logic applies to the online world as well. Don’t bombard them with emails about what you’re selling; they’ll simply stop reading them.
Offer Flash Sales Online
Because of the instant access nature of e-commerce, it’s now possible to set up a sale very quickly. You could send out a quick email to customers telling them that all stock will be sold with a 15% for the next four hours, and then just do it. If you want to generate more sales quickly, this can be a great way to do it. It pushes people to make a purchase when they previously might not have even been thinking about doing so. So, take advantage of these flash sales opportunities that the online presence of your company offers you. Doing this every so often can be a big help by the end of the year.
Great tips, Brandy. I’ve tried PPC advertising, but I learned that if you don’t have thousands of dollars in your marketing budget its not worth it.