Supercharge Your Sales with These 5 Simple Strategies

By Stefanie Neyland, Small Business Content Developer at BizLaunch.com

 

As any business owner will know, the only way to run a profitable venture is to generate a

profit. After all, without it, a business simply can’t exist. For this reason it’s essential to devise a

thorough, regularly updated sales plan that you can use as a blueprint to reach your financial

goals and achieve the success that you—and your business—deserve. Here are five

tried-and-tested strategies you should incorporate into your plan to give your sales a boost.

 

1. Incentivize your employees

It’s perhaps the simplest strategy for boosting your sales of all: give your employees a

reason to get out there and sell. Incentive-based rewards are a great way to keep your sales

team motivated, but before you go out and buy prizes, make sure that you set goals for the

company and for each employee so that you can measure their progress. Be sure to put the

company sales goal where your employees can see it, and make sure you update them on the

progress they're making every week. Also be sure to follow up with employees who are lagging

behind to see if they need any additional training or help.

 

2. Grow your network

Networking is a great way to find new customers online and offline. LinkedIn is an excellent

online tool because you can easily find groups that your customers follow based on their job

title, geography and industry. However, you can’t do all of your networking from behind a

computer screen—you also need to make it a habit to regularly attend live industry events and

conferences relevant to your industry.

 

3. Ask for referrals

If your customers like you, you should have no problem asking them for referrals. Give one

of your satisfied customers a call and ask if they know anyone that they could introduce you to.

Provide them with your sales message so they understand what you're doing, and ask if they

can introduce you to the person via email or conference call. After the customer has referred

you, make sure you contact them three times afterwards—once after they agree to refer you,

again after you’ve met the person as a ‘status update’ of sorts, and lastly, once you’ve got the

sale. Referrals are like a report card—the number you get will tell you how well you’re doing at

building business relationships and friendships with your customers. If you aren’t getting

referrals (or don’t feel comfortable asking for them), you may need to improve your product or

your customer service.

 

4. Give a little

Don’t you just love it when you get a free sample of a great product? Well, guess

what—your customers do, too. Not only will your patrons thank you for it, but they’ll also likely

end up investing in your product in the long-term.  Consider offering a free sample, a free

trial, or even a free eBook or download.

 

5. Upsell and cross-sell

One of the most effective methods of increasing your sales is to encourage your existing

customers to spend a little more with you. Use cross-selling and upselling techniques by offering

an additional product or service to complement the customer’s purchase they’ve already

committed to. If it works for car salespeople and fast food chains—it can work for you, too.

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