As a business owner, if you are getting to the end of a busy day having made no sales, then none of it really matters. The goal of every business is to make profit. The fact that it’s not working out just means that there’s something you are doing wrong. Instead of throwing in the towel, what you should do is retrace your steps to the beginning and try to find where things began to fall apart.
In this post I will be discussing 12 crucial tips to help you build your business with the end goal of making sales. In other words, how to improve your business in such a way that you can create a healthy profit.
You are probably thinking, “Oh, I’ve seen so many of these posts. What’s going to be so different about this one?” I implore you to be patient and read through to the end. If you are able to take away just one or two tricks from this post, hopefully it will give you the renewed vigor to go ahead and give your business another shot and maybe make a success of it after all.
Create a Business Plan
There is no one surefire way to make strong sales or grow a business. There are different markets for different products, and so what works for selling product A might not work for product B. However, there are certain steps that every business must go through and the first one is planning. As the saying goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” You can make use of a traditional business format to create your plan. It should have at least seven out of the eight headings listed below:
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Executive summary: Talk about your business, product or service, mission statement, information about potential employees, location, financial information, and growth plans.
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Describe your business in your own words. Talk as much as you want about the business but be detailed about it, no unnecessary ramblings. Showcase your business strengths.
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Give a detailed analysis of your market. This is where you talk extensively about your industry outlook and target audience. Leave no questions unanswered.
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Organisation and management. Talk about the structure of your business.
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What are your financial aspirations?
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What is the product or service that you’re offering? Discuss how it will be beneficial to people and why they would want your product and not a competitor’s.
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Describe your marketing strategy.
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Get your Product or Service Ready
A lot of the time, business owners get lost in the planning and preparation phase, that they forget that the product or service actually matters. For tangible products, the look, availability, and ease of purchase are just a few of the things that they sometimes fail to consider. Packaging, branding and presentation goes a long way in helping to make sales.
Create a Sales Funnel
A sales funnel is the ideal process that customers are led through by the seller before they purchase your product or service. It is the foundation for revenue and growth. You can create your sales funnel with SAP Digital CRM. You can utilise a template from three steps to over ten, which ultimately depends on how complex your sales are.
The sales funnel shows you anything that is wrong with the sales process at that point in time, like an insufficient number of leads, roadblocks, times of standstill, etc. It will also point out any improvements that need to be made. The sales funnel helps you figure out and improve your process, manage your daily sales activities, and forecast revenue.
A typical sales funnel that can be used for any small business consists of five steps from:
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The initial contact: The first step where you have your first meeting, call, or email with the lead.
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Qualification: When you have determined the lead is serious and capable of making a purchase.
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Presentation: The point when you have scheduled a full sales presentation.
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Evaluation: Where customer concerns are addressed.
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Closing: The last step where the purchase is made or contract is signed.
Some small businesses also use a seven-step plan, with the extra two steps being to develop a solution. This is where you collect facts about your clients to develop a value proposition and negotiation, discussing prices and other details.
Take your Business Online
Every business requires an online presence to evolve with the times and maximise profit. The first thing you need to do is create your website. It doesn’t have to be the most advanced, but it should have the necessary information that your current and potential customers need. However, it’s not enough to just create a website. You have to choose the right domain name provider and web hosting service for it. Making a wrong turn at this point can really mess up your website and switching to another domain provider might hurt your brand and ranking on Google. You certainly don’t want that. Marketing manager at Discount Domain Names, Brendan Wilde, says, “Using good web hosting and design ensures that when users are redirected back to your site, website metrics like user friendliness and speed do not negatively affect their experience.”
It’s estimated that 97% of consumers search for local businesses online. So, you have no reason not to be online as well. A strong online presence is very important for any business that wants to thrive, regardless of its size or the industry it falls under. Simply setting up a website isn’t the end of the road; you also have to make sure that your site can actually be found by search engines. According to Brafton, “before 87% of consumers make their purchase decisions, they take the time to research on the products or services via search engines.” In other words, you need to focus on getting the best search engine optimisation (SEO) for your website.
To learn more about the basics of SEO and how to optimise your website, check out Google’s Search Engine Optimisation Starter Guide and Moz’s The Beginner’s Guide to SEO.
Having a social media presence is also a powerful platform for you to increase your revenue and build strong customer relationships. With outlets like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Tumblr and Pinterest, you can share photos, news, tips, videos and more with your consumers and prospects.
Increase Online Sales by Implementing These Advertising Strategies
The goal of every business, whether small or large-scale, is to increase sales as much as possible and as often as possible. It is actually easier said than done, but thankfully, there are a number of methods you can implement to increase sales exponentially:
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Make use of a Call to Action on your website.
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Consumers love freebies and offers that give them a money-back guarantee.
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Target lookalike audiences on Facebook.
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Use pop-up offers.
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Don’t give consumers too much choice.
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Get more ad clicks with ad extensions.
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Provide as many payment options as possible.
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Make your website mobile friendly.
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Follow up with new customers with a welcome email.
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Make sure you respond to questions and comments—consumers love that.
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Give away as much free stuff as possible.
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Use a lot of images—pictures speak louder than words.
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Make sure to display customer testimonials and reviews.
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Pinpoint your best attribution and conversion paths.
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Engage with both consumers and prospective consumers.
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Use remarketing campaigns—it is the single most effective way to boost online sales.
These tips offer a lot of choice and an excellent framework to create your advertising strategy and give you a good head start with your online sales.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Business Blogging
Creating a business blog that generates a stream of customers and leads is not easy. Sometimes you will wonder if it’s actually worth it. Follow these rules I’m about to give you and you might be surprised at the results.
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Don’t spread sales messages. Consumers know you are trying to sell a product, they can see that quite clearly. What they want to know is how it is beneficial to them. What is in it for them? If you are using your blog to simply spread your sales messages, then your sales will remain exactly at the level they are. You need to write for your readers, not to advertise your products. Get to know them and find out how you can help them solve their problems. That’ll get their attention and keep them interested in you and your business.
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Don’t use a formal tone. You are a human not a robot. You need to empathise with your readers—respond to them as simply and naturally as possible. Get rid of the corporate tone and be more casual.
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Use captivating headlines. Fun, catchy headlines will always get you more readers, followers, and even capture the attention of those who are just passing through. Using numbers in headlines is a way of catching wandering eyes on social media.
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Create enticing paragraphs. Support your catchy heading with an enticing paragraph. You need to get your readers, followers and anyone passing through your website to stop and read your post. Attention is fleeting on the internet, so when you do get it, you should do all you can to keep it for as long as possible.
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Make your conclusions inspirational. With your final paragraph, you should inspire your reader so that they remember it and act on it. If you leave an imprint, no matter how small, with each post they read on your blog, they’re sure to come back for more.
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Create an email list. With your readers’ email addresses, you can form a connection and entice them to come back for more. When a reader receives an email from you every week, it’s only natural that they begin to warm up to you and trust you. This is the time for you to make your move.
Create a bond with people, and over time, you’ll gain not only their interest, but also their trust. Once you have that fundamental connection, making the sale is the easy part.