I’m going to start with the simplest solution for a sales team, then I’m going to list the different ways you can increase your sales if you’re a small business or self-employed.
Resources for a sales team
The simple solution to growing your business is to follow these three steps.
- Target priority customers and prospects
- Our key customers are a priority, since around 20% of our sales represent 80% of our business. They are our competitors’ targets, and we’re always losing them, so we have to keep them loyal. These customers must be prioritized as A, B, C in your CRM.
- Important prospects, i.e. the competition’s major customers. These prospects should be prioritized in 1,2,3 according to their potential and strategic interest. Leads are needed to make up for the inevitable loss of major customers.
- Call targets and meet with them whenever possible.
The more customers you meet, the better your chances of selling. What’s more, calling them allows you to select who you’re going to meet, and thus maximize the efficiency of your available time. If you don’t solicit, you’ll meet the small, problematic customers who want to see you. Telephone solicitation allows you to select your targets, to choose the best prospects and customers. What’s more, your CRM enables you to call them at the right time, thus increasing your closing rate.
- Sell optimally
Optimal selling means getting to the bottom of a customer’s needs and, above all, trying to get back what he buys from the competition.
Resources for companies and self-employed workers
- Prioritize your customers into A, B, C, to retain your most important customers and not let them go to the competition.
- Always look for new prospect targets to replace customers who inevitably leave.
- Call your priority and prospectsThe more you call, the more you’ll meet.
- Get referrals from your customers, either by offering them credits if they do, or by giving their friends the chance to enjoy the same benefits as they do. It’s easier to call referrals who’ve heard of you their friends than cold prospects who don’t know you.
- Offer long-distance meetings: for one thing, it’s easier to get this kind of meeting, and for another, you’ll be able to increase the number of your meetings by limiting your travel. You can also increase your closing rate with the ability to create more complete presentations on Zoom, Teams, or another system.
- Increase the number of appointments to meet as many customers and prospects as possible, especially through videoconferencing.
- Improve your sales techniques by carrying out an extensive discovery of your customer’s needs. And don’t forget that customers are more likely to believe what they say than what they’re told, so try to get them to say what you want them to say. Increased sales will come from your ability to recover the purchases made by your competitors.
- Create a website and improve its SEO, i.e. its natural positioning in search engines, by creating quality content. If your site can appear on the first page for searches related to your field, you’ll have customers coming to your site without having to prospect. Your site also needs a “landing page” to encourage them to take action, either by buying if you have a store, or by asking for information, or by calling you, depending on your business model.
- Use the free social media available to you. You can do this for free by creating your homepage on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Linkedin. These are the four main social networks: Instagram for young people, Facebook older people, twitter over 25s in general, LinkedIn for business. Your choice will depend on your targets. Start-ups should be encouraged to use social media free of charge.
- Use paid advertising on social networks if you can afford it. Local ads on Facebook, for example, can be inexpensive and generate lots of visits to your page. Advertising on LinkedIn is effective in B2B, but very expensive.
- Plan paid keyword campaigns on search engines like Google or Bing. You can control the cost per day or per month to test their effectiveness and increase your spending if it pays off.
- Organize advertising campaigns on local radio stations, for example, which don’t cost too much. Generally speaking, and depending on your budget, create a buzz around your products and services – the more people hear about them, the better.
In conclusion
Selling more is fun, it’s a game and a game you control, unlike the Casino. You have nothing to lose by trying, and everything to gain!
Jean-Pierre Mercier
