Sales are one of the most important part about your business. Every entrepreneur wants to increase their sales. Here are some ways to do that:
Fill Out Every Section
According to Google, complete Google Business Profiles are 50% more likely to lead to a purchase. So don’t just complete the bare minimum of name, address, phone number, and website. Sign in to your Google My Business account and complete every section in each of the tabs on your dashboard. The more information you supply, the higher your Business Profile will rank in search results and the more confident customers can be in choosing your business over a competitor.
Get Google Reviews
One of the best ways to increase sales for your business is to increase the number of positive reviews you have on Google. Consumers trust what other customers have to say and often use reviews as a deciding factor in choosing a business. In addition, reviews can help you achieve a star rating next to your search result on Google, further helping you to increase customers and sales. This can also come in handy when it comes to voice search, which is something you definitely want to start thinking about!
Seed Your Q&A Section
Uncertainty creates a barrier to entry for sales. With the Google Q&A feature, anyone can ask, and anyone can answer any question about any business. This means that you can (and should, for information accuracy purposes) preemptively ask and answer questions about your own business on your Google Business Profile. Giving customers a clearer picture of what to expect and answering common questions and concerns reduces uncertainty which can help to increase sales.
These are just a few of the many ways you can use your Google My Business account to improve your Google Business Profile and drive more sales for your business.
How to Increase Sales through Existing Customers
Your existing customers should be the first priority when attempting to boost sales. They’ve already shown a willingness to give you money in exchange for products or services, which shows that they trust you. If you did an excellent job when serving them, then they should be primed to do more business with you.
Pay Attention to Existing Customer Behavior
When possible, study how your customers use and interact with your products and services. Perhaps they rely heavily on one particular feature or struggle with one aspect of your product. If so, this could be a great place to offer an upgrade.
Another approach for this is to deliver more personalized seo service or training. You shouldn’t really see this as an upsell. Instead, think of it as extending or enriching your relationship with them. You don’t want to be forceful here. Just be sure that they know what you offer because they could be unaware.
Ask for Feedback
Especially on what your offerings lack. Is there a specific problem that you could help them with?
For example, a printing company might do an excellent job printing promotional brochures that clients mail out to generate business. A client who wants to automate the process even more could be interested in having the envelopes printed and addressed. They may even like to have the printing company handle the mailing itself.
If you can provide a broader range of services for your current customers, you become even more essential to their business. That means more sales and a stronger relationship.
Run Regular Promotions
Sales and marketing promotions are a great way to reward your current customers and increase sales. Whether you hold them once a month, once a quarter, or whatever makes sense for you, you want it to be regular.
Once you establish a rhythm with them, customers will start to look forward to them. The more they anticipate interacting with you in the future, the better. Plus, they can let others know about your promotions in advance. These referrals should lead to a larger customer base and subsequently, more sales.
How to Increase Sales with New Customers
Another proven way to support your bottom line is to focus on converting prospects into customers. Your audience is aware of you and your offerings, but they haven’t signed on yet. Here are a few ways to see that more of them do.
Do a Content Audit
Take a deep dive into your current website, mailers, flyers, or other sales and marketing materials. Are you focusing on features more than benefits? If so, you’ll want to put the attention on how your product or service will make your customers’ lives easier, cheaper, or happier.
Here’s an example of changing a feature into a benefit. Rather than, “24-hour technical service,” emphasize that your customers should, “Never worry about technical glitches because we’re just a phone call away at any time.”
Create Packages, Deals, & Bundles
Sometimes, you just need a different approach. One way to accomplish that is to look for creative ways to combine services into a package or multiple products into a bundle.
You can either put together similar services (like a combo interior and exterior car wash) or different types of services that would allow your customer to get a great deal while checking multiple items off their to-do list (like a discounted – or free – basic car wash after an oil change). You can do the same for products.
With packages and bundles, your customers will appreciate the convenience of the entire package. Plus, they’ll feel like they are getting more for their money (which we all want).
Just be sure to price your bundles accordingly, and don’t discount your products so much that you decrease their perceived value. Having a specific reason for a deal (like inventory surplus or a new product line) can explain the discount and still create interest.
Find Ways to Stand Out from the Competition
We’re all bombarded with advertising messages (thousands per day), so you have to find a way to get noticed. This doesn’t mean yelling the loudest. It means differentiating yourself from the competition, usually in clever ways.
CarMax, for example, recently capitalized on a viral video about a 1996 Accord to make an offer of $20,000 for a used car. While only they know if that investment will pay off, it certainly emphasized their message of “we buy all the cars.”
You can scale this for your business by taking a look at what your competitors are highlighting and identifying products, services, or features you offer that they might not. Maybe the majority of your competitors aren’t offering curbside pick-up, but you are. Or, maybe you’re the only business among your competitors with safety-certified cleaning procedures to keep employees and customers safe. Highlighting these features in your marketing can help you resonate with consumers now while setting your business apart from the rest.
Brush Up on Your Sales Skills
Advertising and outreach can bring in more leads and transform them from cold to warm to hot. When it comes time for conversion, however, you still have to sell to your customers.
You’ve done all the work to get them ready to buy, but that isn’t the finish line. Revisit the sales essentials to make sure you don’t lose prospects in the final stages of the process. This can include taking a look at your lead management system to ensure you have a process in place for following up with leads, offering a special incentive to close the deal, and more.
How to Increase Sales through Social Media
As social media platforms continue to expand and multiply, they provide new avenues for reaching and nurturing your audience. Ultimately, that can lead to more sales. And right now is a great time to focus on selling through social media when so many consumers are spending a ton of time on these channels.
Use Social Media Advertising
Most social media sites know a lot about their users. A lot. You can use that data to help get your message in front of the right eyes with laser precision. If you haven’t already, you’ll want to build a social media marketing campaign and start to test.
Build Community & Generate Word of Mouth
Not all social experiences need to be transactional though. Instead, you can look at sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as watering holes for your current or potential customers.
By meeting them where they already hang out, you can find a place in their lives that doesn’t feel as “salesy.” Use social media to help your customers solve problems. They’ll begin to regard you as the expert and come to you with similar issues in the future. They’ll also tell their friends, and both can increase your bottom line.
Promote Your Deals on Social Media
While not everyone on social media is looking to buy (not when there are so many cat videos to watch), it can be an efficient way to use promotions. Everyone loves a good deal! Giveaways or special deals are more likely to grab your audience’s attention, which can lead to more sales.
Make Sure Your Social Media Profiles are Optimized
Think of your social media profile as a mini website for your business. Each profile should clearly convey who you are, what you do, and what values you stand for. Since you might not be on their radar for long, make sure you immediately resonate and connect with your ideal customer.
Be sure to treat every social media platform as an individual site, too. Your audiences for each will be different, so your profiles should all be optimized according to your goals for the site.
More Ways to Increase Sales
In addition to these three major areas, you can also improve your sales figures by trying some (or all) of the tips below.
Nurture Leads with Email Marketing
Often, the journey is not straight from ad to sale. Instead, you find prospects and lead them along a path that eventually ends with them choosing your product or service. One of the most effective ways to nurture them through this process is email marketing`.
Once you have a prospect’s email, you should keep in touch with them through an automated campaign. This helps you show them that you understand their problems and can provide a solution. It’s also another great place to promote your deals and specials.
Partner with Other Businesses
Another way to increase sales for your business is to make connections with other providers in your industry. At the very least, you can refer business to one another, but you might also find ways to partner to offer unique package deals to your customers.
A restoration company, for example, could benefit from having a solid relationship with roofers and plumbers. If you’re in the business of replacing and repairing flooded carpets, you’ll get more sales by knowing the people who are first on the scene to fix the initial cause of the leak.
Offer Free Trials or Demonstrations
One of the most common objections (especially for an ongoing service or software subscription) is, “But will this work for me?” While you should try to address that in your marketing materials and content, the easiest way to demonstrate the value of your service is to let customers see it for themselves.
A free trial or walkthrough demonstration shows customers exactly how much time or money they could save from your offering. You’ll want to also provide excellent customer service and training in the trial period to ensure that they use your product and that they get the most out of it.
Put a Call to Action on Your Homepage
We know that a CTA is essential for conversions on a landing page or product description. They can also be effective on your homepage because they help direct your visitor. Think about the one thing you want a visitor to your homepage to do. Call you? Fill out an inquiry form? Join your email list? Whatever the answer, make it clear on the homepage with a CTA that stands out.