After the emergence of the Corona virus, the face of the world changed completely, and not only the market situation and the demand for buying changed, but everything changed, and perhaps your sales percentages are no exception and were affected as well.
We understand the pain and difficulty you face whenever the sales curve straightens or even declines, whether in this global crisis or others.
Whether you’re a sales manager, entrepreneur, or even an amateur trying to expand your skills, we’ve found to share some tips for increasing sales to support you in whatever step you’re taking now.
And to be honest, we know that increasing sales is no small task. You can take each step in its entirety until you run into an impediment here or there, some of which are from you and others from the client’s side, and the latter has nothing to do with either of you – like our current crisis! You may even find yourself finding the right client the right way only to find that the time for neither of you is right.
But in our advice to increasing sales, we will take your hand step by step to rise above these obstacles and challenges. To reach your customer at the right time, right place, and right way!
1) Remember that your role is to help.
If you’ve made sales before, you know it’s an iterative process, and it can be very easy to get into an endless cycle of repetition.
So you may sometimes have to keep yourself engaged and as excited as you first started. Remind yourself or your team members of the company’s larger mission, who you serve, and why they might like to benefit from your service. Even the worth you leave behind in the world.
Remember that people do not always want money or a higher promotion; otherwise, you would not find workers in high positions quitting their jobs and looking for another, even if it is one with a lower salary and a lower social or professional level.
Therefore, it is necessary for you to talk to your employees and to yourself about the necessity and importance of speedy decision-making and moving effectively and the great impact that they have in the long term.
Take your time brainstorming, summarizing the company’s mission and values, as well as the impact of their performance each time in making a difference and assisting customers and even their company, rather than simply selling for the sake of selling.
Your HR team, trainings, or even group activities help you reinforce these perceptions in the minds of employees, in addition to highlighting their unique individual skills and achievements. Thus, each individual feels that he is an active part of the success of the entity.
2) Combine marketing and sales.
If you work in marketing or have a marketing team, even if it’s just one person, work with them to develop a solid plan for tracking customer visits, conversions, and completion levels.
This investigation will enable you to identify weaknesses within your marketing strategy that may delay or hinder the flow of sales, and then you will be able to take the right decision to improve and increase sales in terms of quantity and quality.
In any case, aligning both departments (sales and marketing) together guarantees better performance; everyone on the team stands on the same spot in terms of seeing opportunities and thus working together in harmony and strategy to make the best use of them.
3) Be sure to provide the correct value at the correct time.
Remember that motive for which you thought of launching your project or even participated in its success? Whether it is adding value to the lives of consumers, facilitating a process for them, or even protecting them from danger or challenge.
This is because you will need to measure your performance with your customers against this value or vision. Now think about when your customers will really feel this impact in their lives. Is it the first day? The second? The tenth? Six months later?
Whatever the time scale, you should always sell and make your sales decisions on the time scale that has the most impact, not the most buying.
For example, students may need padded backpacks to help them carry more weight without hurting themselves, and they usually look for and buy them before entering school, that is, in the summer or spring in some countries (the most popular time to purchase them).
But they feel the most impact from it when they really put it to use going back and forth from schools every day (time of greatest impact). Then they feel grateful to have such a product.
For example, the peak time or the greatest value for some companies is during the back-to-school season, and for others it is before holidays and events, and so on.
Determine the time that you know generates the most sales flow, then develop a sales plan with your marketing team to prepare your customers to deal with you at these times even before they enter.
For example, if you find that your flow season is in the summer, start preparing your customers for the winter, and vice versa.
4) Practice is key.
You know that the genius seller is the one who is constantly improving and developing his craft. Whether you are the owner of the same project, a sales manager, or even just a beginner, take advantage of quiet times, which are characterized by moderation or declining numbers of sales, to achieve a greater spread among the categories and segments of your target customers, or to prepare them to deal with you at peak times, as we explained in the previous advice.
At these times, experiment, tweak, and tweak your sales and customer outreach plans to come up with the exact formula for achieving the highest level of sales.
Is it the content that needs some improvement? Or ad targets? Is it the quality or rate of response to email and chat on social media platforms? Is it even publishing and communication times?
Feel the weaknesses that need improvement and promotion, and search for and then try effective solutions to overcome them and turn them into real opportunities. If these attempts are successful in the off-target season, they will probably be a great success when the time comes.
5) Monitor key performance indicators.
If we could offer one piece of advice to increase sales, it would definitely be tracking performance indicators.
And the reason is no secret: if you want to know where you stand in your sales performance or the feasibility of your sales plan and how you create the different channels that you employ, nothing is more important and clear than performance indicators.
KPIs show how many and how many deals you’ve completed, the depth of your connection with potential customers, and whether you need to improve, adjust, or even eliminate a step in the buyer’s journey to checkout.
It also clarifies the positive points that achieve success and flow for the company or contribute to increasing sales in general, and thus you will be able to highlight and develop them further.
6) Be kind.
Yeah, I know, it doesn’t sound like one of the fashionable tips for increasing sales. It doesn’t even sound like anything to do with running a business, let alone a tip for increasing sales.
But the truth is that sales are either a solid and soulless process, or the worker in it—whether you or someone else—knows that you contribute to making the life of an individual, an institution, or an entire community easier, better, and less complicated by providing a solution to their dilemmas or challenges.
By empathy, we mean putting yourself at the customer’s feet, feeling the challenge and the need they face. Treat each customer as if they are the only one whose success you need to exceed/fulfill in order for you to succeed.
Remember that the customer knows and feels exactly when he is being treated with kindness and concern for his interest, or vice versa. It is important for him to feel that he is not only a number to add to the list of deals but the one and only person for whom the whole enterprise is founded.
Here, with little effort other than showing sympathy and understanding and containing tension if it occurs, you will gain a customer who will remember his experience and talk about it for years, perhaps.
7) Try group selling.
Sometimes you need to implement this tip to increase your closing rates, especially when time is tight and you need to get things done faster and more creatively. One of the tips to increasing sales in this case is to bring the team together.
For example, try to bring together two sales representatives—whether telephone, mail, or physical sales—to work on one deal or combine the oldest and most experienced among the youngest.
If the team’s size allows, you can even divide it into two parts and have a competition between the two.Employees can also take turns looking at each other’s calls/chats in a group activity to give constructive feedback or learn something new.
8) The onboarding procedure
One tip for increasing sales is to run a promotional campaign that gives better value and references the onboarding process. The preparation process was originally taken from the field of human resource management and is intended to create a state of familiarity, harmony, and integration between new clients, the company, and its old members.
Same idea in sales. For example, instead of offering a discount on your product, give them a value and a reason for the purchase. such as priority support and assistance after purchase, free shipping, premium membership with the company, or others.
You know the nature of the product or service that you provide, and I also know the nature and needs of the customer and what competitors offer to provide the same or better.
When you communicate with your customers, whether by mail, phone, or face-to-face, let them know what you offer and why. Here you will create an advantage and an additional solution to the original solution offered by your company’s offerings, which is in itself a highly competitive advantage.
When the customer feels that you are here for him (i.e., your company) and that you will not leave him alone, he will most likely deal with you for this reason alone, and he will certainly have a sense of familiarity and security and that he is a member of the entity and not a stranger to him.
9) Ask for customer referrals.
Although it is important, many people skip it for some reason, but you don’t want to skip it. Contact your existing customers, especially those who have just completed the purchase process or who have a long history with you, and ask them for referrals on your project.
Has it ever happened to you that you asked a seller or a business owner to thank you for your purchase or your dealings with him? For me, it never happened. But wouldn’t it be amazing if your favorite company or that startup you just worked with called you to express their gratitude?
If you don’t fancy the conversation, you can start by saying hello and asking about the news. Then move on to thanking your customer for being a regular customer with you recently or for choosing you among the other options available.
Show him your number or your personal email address, perhaps, and ask him to contact you at any time if he has any questions or requests. Also, express your hope that he will continue to be a loyal customer for many years to come.
In the end, tell him that if he knows people who need the same service by the way, you would love to offer your services to them.
Thus, in a nutshell and very nicely, you give the client a sense of privilege and importance—and this is true—and also get his recommendations for you that you asked for, and he recommends you to his circle of acquaintances especially for that final human touch.
10) Promote yourself, not the product.
One of the most important tips for increasing sales that you will find repeated in all sales references is that you, as a project owner or the project itself, are a product in itself, just like the product you offer. So you have to sell this product properly and decently.
If you notice, you’ll find that customers are always looking for a real connection—a person or place that has their best interest in mind and only cares about their own.
If you do all your tasks in the right way, you will reap positive results, of course, but if you do your tasks with interest and focus on the interest of the customer, and this expresses all your steps and dealings with them, then this will appear to them and they will believe it.
Remember that, for the customer, you are also a product above the product you offer. But the question is, are you a product that solves a problem they face? or a product that adds a problem on top of the one they already have?
Don’t deal with your customers without enthusiasm and focus just to achieve your goal of deal numbers. Create a deep and human connection; be sure to serve and help them; and reassure them that you are on their side and not here for profit alone.
Finally, do less to sell more! Don’t let the techniques, tools, and tips to increase the many sales here and there distract you from your main goal, which is to serve your customers and provide superior value in their lives.
When you fully realize this goal and adopt it in all your steps and dealings with them, not only your rates of return will come to life, but also your relationship with your customers, and they will return to you every time.
Read also: What are the levels of emotional intelligence?
