Owning a business is hard work! If you have come to a crossroads, don’t give up, maybe you just need a fresh strategy.
You were tired of punching the clock and have someone telling you what to do, so you decided to start a small business. You thought it would be easy and fun, like playing NetBet Sport, but then reality struck you. Being the owner sounds great, but there are so many challenges on the way, and it may get tiring. You may want to quit, but after being your own boss for so long and thinking about all the effort you put into, you may feel trapped. So instead of taking steps back, we will tell you ways to take steps forward and grow.
Ways to improve your sales
For a business to survive, especially in the beginning, it needs to have enough sales that will cover all the standard expenses like rent, your employees’ salary, and your salary. Ιf you are struggling with sales, there are some ways you can improve them:
Use the internet
Here’s 4 important tips…
- Use all your social media platforms. If you don’t have accounts, then you should create them everywhere because your competitors are already doing it. The best media platform for sales B2B is LinkedIn. Create a page for your business along with a profile and connect with people in key positions all over the world.
- Use Google My Business so your potential customers near your area can find you easily. Then, ask your best customers to leave you a review.
- Use email marketing platforms like Mailchimp to send newsletters to your existing clients. The platforms offer you valuable information on your campaign. It reports which client opened the email and how many times. So, you know if the services or product you offered was a success before you even got a phone call.
- Keep your website up to date and mobile-friendly. These days, most of the searches happen with a smartphone, so if your website doesn’t keep up, you may lose customers. That’s why it might be a smart choice to go with a top Miami web design company that can meet all of your needs and create a flawless website for your business. Also, make sure that you use the best pictures possible to describe and represent your products.
“Use Google My Business so your potential customers near your area can find you easily. Then, ask your best customers to leave you a review.”
Use the telephone
Customers want to be served by polite and friendly sales representatives. So, call your existing customers and ask them how they are doing and mention your latest offer. If they are happy with your cooperation, you can ask them to give you a referral. When you have five satisfied customers, they can turn quickly into ten, depending on the field.
You can also try to make cold calls. Some say it may be outdated; however, many people have learned that type of communication, and they prefer it. Measure the time it takes you to make ten calls and what the outcome was so you’ll know if that type of sales works for your type of business. If you have never done it before, you can always read a book about cold sales. There are many ways to start the conversation to break the ice, pursue someone who is not that interested, and handle all of his objections. So, you will know what you should do and when your business grows, you’ll learn how to hire someone to do it for you while measuring his performance.
Although nothing compares with face-to-face communication. Have you noticed that in some companies, when the sales representative leaves, he takes some customers with him? This happens because personal contact matters a lot. The customers become friends with their salesman because they regularly see him, chat with him, trust him, and buy from him. So, decide which area will become your target, which businesses are more likely to purchase from you, take your samples, and go. You will have a firsthand opinion about your targeted market, your competitors, and the difficulties that may occur. Then you can re-evaluate your position and come back stronger.
“If they are happy with your cooperation, you can ask them to give you a referral. When you have five satisfied customers, they can turn quickly into ten, depending on the field.”
Door to Door
When you know what you are doing and feel confident enough, you can hire a salesman to visit the customers. Hiring a salesperson, though, doesn’t mean that your job in that field has ended. You’ll have to monitor his schedule and learn as much as possible about how his working day went. If you don’t want to have that responsibility, or don’t like door to door, then another option is to hire someone to deliver flyers to the businesses. Then call to make sure that the brochure reached the person in the buying position. That will initiate a conversation, too, and if it hasn’t and they are interested in your services or products, you can arrange an appointment.
You’ll have to keep in mind that all sale attempts, whether they be phone calls, appointments, or door to door, create a ton of information that can be overwhelming. The best solution for that is to use a Customer Relationship Management program (CRM) that will help you monitor all the potential clients and register their contact information along with their emails. Then, make sure they authorize you to use their email to send them newsletters.
“Have you noticed that in some companies, when the sales representative leaves, he takes some customers with him? This happens because personal contact matters a lot.”
Attend Exhibitions
Businesses who attend exhibitions make sure that they have a booth that looks professional, along with informative material on their business. However, it is not as easy as it seems. You have to organize all the products you want to show off, the office supplies, banners, shelves, possibly offer coffee and treats for your stand’s visitors. This isn’t a job for one person. It would be best if you were at least three to prepare the stand and then to take shifts and have breaks. You should also keep in mind that there is always a peak during the exhibition so you should have as much support as you can. Because when you get busy, visitors will wait for a few moments, but not much longer before leaving and heading to the next booth. Try to find a way to create a buzz in your stand, such as organizing a competition or a lottery or having someone demonstrate your products or services.
“Try to find a way to create a buzz in your stand, such as organizing a competition or a lottery or having someone demonstrate your products or services.”
In Conclusion
There is nothing you can’t do, especially if you love your job. If you put in the effort, every step can lead to your success story.
