Businesses are like gardens, they need to be constantly worked on to sustain them and bring in new clients, convert opportunities and retain customers. Follow these sales strategies to tend your business.
Sales Strategy #1 ~ Attract new potential customers (aka Lead Generation)
Know how your business attracts customers. Make sure you are doing this weekly. It could be advertising, cold calling, networking or meeting at a coffee shop. New customers are vital to the health of your business. They inject new ideas, new people to talk to and new funds. The easiest way to get new customers on board is via referrals. I will talk more about this later (if you are impatient, see #3 Sales Strategy).
Sales Strategy #2: Turn potential customers into customers (aka Sales Conversion)
Sales conversion is taking a potential client and converting them to a paying client. The BIGGEST mistake that people make ~ they don’t follow up! The biggest reason I hear for this is they don’t want to be a pest.
TIP: Next time you are in a meeting, make sure you set a time with your client to follow up. You have permission and a time to call ~ so you will do it! Simple!
Read more tips on Follow Up Etiquette.
Sales Strategy #3: Keep your customers happy (aka Retention Rate)
If the only time your client hears from you is when you want him to buy … it might not work out exactly as you planned. Everyone in the world wants love! Show your customers that you care by visiting them, taking them places, sending them cards. There are a multitude of ways to appreciate your customers. So do it! If you are not sure what your clients most appreciate ~ pick up the phone and ask them.
TIP: Happy clients refer new clients … but you still have to ask them to.
Sales Strategy #4: Get your customers to buy more often (aka Transaction Frequency)
The question with frequency is how to anticipate or increase how often your client buys from you. Don’t leave it to your client to call you. I always like to have the ball in my court, so I would say something like:
“Mr Client, you are likely to have used 80% of this product by March and so I will call you again at the end of March to see how you are going and see if you require a new order.”
This tells them your intentions and gets permission so you will follow up!
Sales Strategy #5: Get customers to spend more money (aka Average Sale)
My simple sales advice is to include ALL the options that you think your client needs. Be prescriptive. If you go to the doctor, they don’t say to you … well I can give you half a solution; or, if you want these extras, it will really do the job you want! To grow a well-balanced and sustainable business you need to regularly focus equally on all of these strategies. Here are some helpful metrics to keep your eye on these sales strategies and your business health: Leads generated X Conversion rate X Retention rate = Total customers Total Customers X Transaction Frequency X Average Sale = Total sales Read here about what sales activity you need to meet your growth targets?
For the love of selling, Fran!
