It’s important for small businesses to continue making sales and stay on track. More sales are good for any business.
Here are some things you can do now to boost sales this year if increasing sales is one of your new year’s resolutions.
Table of Contents
1. Know your numbers
A business owner should be able to assess the financial health of their company at any time. You must know what works, what doesn’t work, and where you can improve.
It is important to be aware of the numbers in your business. It’s impossible to determine if your efforts are working without knowing the numbers of your company. You are the one who should be in charge of your daily company numbers, not your tax accountant.
A professional accountant can provide you with the tools to monitor your cash flow on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. However, it’s ultimately up to you. You should also keep up with the latest trends in your industry and locality.
You’ll be able to better manage your cash flow once you know how much money comes in and goes out of your business. Implement strategies to help your company increase sales.
2. What is not working? Eliminate it
Is there a product or service that isn’t performing for your business? Is it a loss for the company every time you sell a product?
Profit margins on products and services are another number that you should know. It’s time to evaluate if you are losing money on the product or service. Consider and eliminate anything that isn’t profitable.
3. Sales skills are important for business success
This one skill is vital to bringing in sales. It’s always good to get new customers. Good, strong sales skills will help you achieve this.
4. You should review your marketing to see if there are any changes needed.
What is the marketing strategy of your company? Is your website attracting consistent visitors? Do those visitors become paying customers?
These statistics can help you determine if your marketing strategy is working. These questions will tell you if your marketing strategy is effective or not.
Your website’s purpose is to bring in prospects, leads and customers. It will give them the information they need and then convert them into paying customers. A website is your “digital door” to the company. It introduces your business, tells people how you can help them, and makes their lives better. You have a website without relevant content, FAQs or self-help information.
Now is the perfect time to get started, whether you’ve never done any marketing before or need to update your efforts.
5. Stay in touch with your customers and clients to stay at the forefront of their minds
How often do your customers call you? You may not call your customers every day. Do they know the latest news about your company since they last heard from you or your representatives? Tell them that you are still around and have products or services available to meet their needs.
It’s important to pay attention if your company starts receiving calls from customers asking for a service or product you have never provided before. You can mention an increase in demand in your newsletter to your other customers.
6. Content marketing
Your brand cannot be built with a static website. Your website should have fresh content, such as:
- Blog posts
- Other written content, such as PDFs
- Podcasts
- Video
- Webinars
- You can include links to social media posts, such as sidebars on your Twitter feed.
Visitors who interact with brands on social media or your website are more likely to do so if they see that your brand is active and responsive.
A personal injury firm could offer a PDF checklist of what to do following a car crash, as well as short videos, podcasts, and longer webinars on the same topic. Visitors will know what you can offer them, and they’ll build trust before they even call.
7. Establish or update social media branding
Now is the perfect time to get your business on social media. Start now if you haven’t. Use the same content you use on your website, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other sites. Social media helps you to engage your audience, establish authority and build trust.
Social media advertising is more cost-effective and effective than other forms of traditional advertising. By putting your business on social media, you can get in front of the audience where they will see you most.
8. Choose your platform
The platform you choose depends on the target audience. Start with the biggest social networks.
- FacebookWith 2.89 billion users active every month, this is the largest platform on the planet. Ideal for generating leads and building relationships.
- LinkedIn is a business network that allows businesses to build trust and authority, engage with customers, and create engagement.
- Twitter The in-the moment site that relies upon “stream of conscious” blogging and short content.
- Pinboard: allows users to upload images and pin them to boards based on topics. Pins allow businesses to sell directly from the platform.
- Instagram Like Pinterest, users are able to upload photos and videos from their mobile device. Users can save individual posts as a list, similar to Pinterest.
- Snapchat enables users to upload, but content expires in 24 hours. Snapchat can be used to promote exclusive content, offer personalized content and build relationships with influencers. These relationships increase brand awareness and loyalty.
- TikTok The video-sharing network that revolves around short, meaningful, videos created for a young demographic. TikTok has also become popular among other demographics, and is used to share instructional videos.
Decide which social media platform will work best for your company. Start conversations about your brand by using your content. You’ll need an active social media presence to interact with your audience, no matter which platform you select.
It is also easier to contact fans, customers, and visitors via social media. To interact with followers, customers, and fans and to answer their questions, you must check your messages and posts multiple times a day.
9. Contacting you is easy for your customers
Many customers were unaware that their favorite businesses remained open after the pandemic. Let your customers know that you are now open and how to contact you.
It’s also a good idea, in addition to the contact page, to include your company’s email address and social media info at the bottom and prominently displayed elsewhere. Have someone check email and social media to see if there are any customer contacts. Include contact details in email correspondence.
Make sure you let your customers know how to contact you and that someone is always available when they call.
You can also use social media tools. Facebook Messenger, Twitter Chats, and Instagram Messaging help you connect with customers quickly and in real-time. Chatbots can answer common questions faster than a human agent.
10. Upgrade your phone system
Increased sales can lead to more calls. Is your phone system capable of handling the increased calls? Your phone system may be outdated, causing you to miss sales calls.
VoIP is one of the most effective and affordable communication tools available today. You can increase or decrease the number of users as your business requirements change. VoIP offers many more features for a low monthly fee than traditional phone services. For a few dollars more, you can add features such as call queues and conference bridge numbers. You can also record calls. With a hosted VoIP system, there is no need to maintain any software or equipment because everything is based on the cloud.
It is simple to switch from traditional phone service to VoIP and keep your existing number. Many companies offer no contract and you can cancel anytime.
