Every company out there, small, medium-sized or big, cannot operate and grow without constantly increasing the sales figures. Revenue is one of the most important factors in the business world and that’s why some business owners always prioritize it the most.
Moreover, a company cannot earn substantial revenue without having one or more sales strategies in place. That should be considered common knowledge, but so many ambitious entrepreneurs fail to realize the significance of a solid sales strategy. Even if you have a solid strategy in place, you will not optimize sales without finding an excellent sales team. Consider working with a sales recruiter to help you enlist the perfect team.
Of course, no sales strategy is simple; coming up with one requires a lot of effort, and coming up with one that will suit your business requires even more brainstorming. But, in order to make this process as easy as possible, take a look at five killer strategies that will most certainly rack up those figures:
- clarifying your mission
- prioritizing customer needs
- making smart marketing efforts
- crafting an effective sales plan
- caring about your customers
Clarifying your mission
The first step towards a sales strategy that will work for you is understanding your business niche.
- What does your business do?
- What do you have to offer?
- What do you do best?
- Who needs your services?
- What is the best way to approach these prospects?
- How much are they willing to pay for your services?
All of these questions need to be answered before you even start to generate sales leads.
Following the clarification, you should break down your mission into specific goals. Write down every single activity goal that you can control. Then set results goals (sales per month, for instance) to measure your progress and track each sale closely.
Finally, you should increase your efforts and measure the results. The gist here is to focus your attention on the goals, but also energize your action.
Customer needs as a priority
Failing to realize that your main priority is satisfying your customer needs is a sure strategy for a downfall.
Your prospects will only buy what they need. Having this in mind will make you think of ways to convince them that your offerings are what they need. So, emphasize the features of your products or services to let your prospects see how they can benefit from them.
On the other hand, your products/services need to solve the problems of your customers at a fair price. Also, you should know that repositioning your wares sometimes comes as the only reasonable way to persuade a customer to buy. Let’s say that you used to sell wool uniforms for their look and feel; now just stress the wool’s durability and lasting value.
Smart marketing efforts
If no one is aware of what you have to offer, no one will buy from you. That is why marketing exists. It’s been present for a long time and there is a good reason for that. But, you have to be wise with your marketing efforts.
Do some research and look into what might work best for you. Take a look at some proven marketing strategies.
SMS marketing
SMS marketing is a marketing method where you are guaranteed to get a high open rate. To be precise, you can rest assured that when you send a message to your target audience, they will open it. Many entrepreneurs are struggling with their email marketing campaigns exactly due to a poor average open rate. But this is not the case with SMS marketing.
This strategy utilizes an SMS API, a well-defined software interface that enables a code to send short messages via an SMS gateway. Seeing that the infrastructure for SMS communications and the internet are mostly divided, SMS APIs are often used to bridge the gap between telecommunications carrier networks and the wider web.
With this strategy, you can reach your customers globally and they can respond, so it’s two-way messaging. You can also run targeted campaigns with tools offered by various global messaging companies, such as message preview, templates, scheduling, and so on.
Testimonials
Testimonials can be a powerful marketing weapon if used correctly. With them, you can boost sales figures by building trust and credibility with your products and humanizing your business. This makes it easier for your leads to relate to what you do or sell, and helps them picture themselves enjoying the benefits of your solution.
That is why you should share a testimonial on your homepage. This is one of the best marketing testimonial examples because it’s so efficient. When you display a testimonial on your homepage, you support your messaging and brand promises. This, in turn, validates and supports your value proposition, which helps your prospects overcome objections and moves them one step closer to becoming satisfied customers.
If you have a budget that allows you to splash out on a marketing campaign, you should definitely consider having a celebrity endorsement for your product. The celebrity doesn’t have to be a world superstar, you could also go for a rising influencer. Their testimonials will really strike a chord with the audience, who will listen to what their idols have to say.
Social media
Millions of people gather on social media platforms, and you should take advantage of that. Some businesses have been built solely on the backs of these platforms. Of course, having a successful social media marketing campaign isn’t easy nowadays since so many businesses are present there, but it can be rewarding.
You just need to build momentum, and then you’ll see that posting content on social media gets easier as time goes by. Of course, if you have enough resources, you may want to find a social media manager, but if you don’t, just be honest and blunt. The goal here is to be authentic, post your thoughts, talk about your products, and post anything you find relevant and useful to your audience.
By doing this, you will allow your potential customers to learn more about what you do, and you will also engage the current customer base, which is always great.
Crafting an effective sales plan
As mentioned above, clarifying your mission is one of the first steps towards a greater number of sales. But once you do that, you should think about a sales plan.
You need to decide what your main goal is at the moment. Without a goal, you won’t have a clear picture of what your sales strategy needs to look like. Of course, the goal needs to be specific and measurable. For example, you can set a goal to sell all your remaining product inventory by the end of the fourth quarter.
Once you’ve set a goal, you should establish an ideal customer persona. This is a profile of your ideal customer, and you need to learn as much as you can about that person. Pinpoint demographics such as age, gender, occupation, and location. Of course, you should determine that customer’s needs too, but you’ve read about that earlier.
Finally, invest in a team of rock-star salespeople who suit your company the best. Look for people who are willing to listen and learn, but also fight and be competitive. Dedicated salespeople always get the best results.
Great customer care
The final, but equally important segment of every successful business is the attitude towards customers. Great customer care goes a long way when it comes to growth. That is why you should be there for your customers even after they have purchased your product.
Your customer service agents need to be patient, polite and informed about your products. However, your sales representatives need to know that a closed deal shouldn’t be the final effort they have to put in when they’re talking to a customer. Saying thanks in sales follow-up emails, contacting the customer every so often just to check whether that person is satisfied with the product and similar details really matter.
Customer care is often what separates bad companies from great ones. Great companies don’t aim at blatantly taking someone’s money and disappearing. That practice leads nowhere, and you should do everything to avoid it. Instead, provide great customer service and the good word about your company will spread like wildfire.