Boosting your sales performance is a main objective for any business, regardless of size. But how do you increase sales effectively? The customer should always be your main focus, as opposed to just focusing on profit, but there are some other key ways to enable you to take your sales to the next level. Here are eight ways to enable you to do just that.
1. Recruit the Right People
Firstly, hire, train and retain only the best. Conventionally, employers tackled recruitment with a view of hiring top candidates. However, for salespeople, getting great talent is the result of excellent training. So, when you’re considering recruiting for your team, look out for the kind of personal qualities and skillsets that’ll make someone responsive to your coaching and training efforts. While you develop your perfect applicant persona, remember to allow a little leeway – often candidates will astound you.
2. Launch a New Service or Product
You should always be researching the market to allow you to expand your products or services to provide your customers with a solution to their evolving challenges. Using your existing clients to gather feedback is a great way to not only strengthen existing relationships, but allow you to learn how to handle some of the risks and understand how to upgrade your service or product.
3. Understand Your Competitors
Think of ways to surpass your competitors by analysing what they provide and master new methods. Learning about your competitors gives you a chance to boost your sales, especially if you use your competitors’ weaknesses to maximise your strengths.
4. Increase Your Sales Channels
You can reach more customers, enhance profitability and boost your market control by optimising and evaluating your sales channels. So, think about:
- Recruiting your own/contracting independent sales agents
- Introducing retail channels
- Providing an e-business scheme
- Using resellers
- Offering your sales employees improved training
5. Branch Out to New Markets
While expanding into new markets can get expensive, it can pay dividends by boosting your customer base and growing your business. Doing your homework on the current marketplace will enable you to learn about the possible new markets so you can put together a strategy. And don’t forget to think about sales, marketing, distribution, and boosting your production to meet the new demand. Why not join our upcoming free webinar which will give you all the tools you need to identify the right opportunity for you business to ensure successful expansion.
6. Customer Service Is Everything
Don’t forget the importance of the customer – how your customers perceive the responsiveness and quality of your customer service is paramount to improving your sales. When clients speak positively about the excellence of your customer service team, the more valuable your business becomes.
7. Marketing Strategy
How efficient are your marketing initiatives? If they aren’t quite up to scratch, it’s time to improve them. Monitor the results of your existing marketing activities and scrutinise your target audience so you understand how to truly reach and engage with them, and then organise your marketing strategy appropriately.
8. Relook At Your Costs
Consider tweaking your prices, conditions, and terms of billing, as this may motivate market demand for your services or products. Understand what your company’s profit margins are and what your competitors are providing to ascertain whether or not you can decrease your prices. However, if reducing your costs isn’t feasible, improving a deal with advantageous terms can usually sway clients.
Improving sales is more of a marathon than a sprint, but by following the ways above – from investing in the correct marketing strategy to implementing outstanding customer service, and recruiting the right people – you’ll be able to secure long-term sales success.
At Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce, we work with businesses, small and large, to nurture connections within our ever-expanding member network, enabling companies to grow locally, regionally, and globally. Want us to make a difference to your sales? Join our expanding peer network now. Just visit: https://www.chamber-business.com/become-a-member-of-bedfordshire-chamber-of-commerce and fill in the online form, or call us on 01582 522 448.
