Those who generate higher sales and better earnings secure both the future of their company and that of their employees. That is why entrepreneurs should always deal intensively with the following questions:
1. How Can Higher Sales Prices Be Achieved?
If you manage to increase your prices while keeping costs constant, your profit automatically increases. However, many delay necessary price increases because they believe that otherwise, they will lose customers. But a business is not an end in itself: at the latest when your own costs rise, they have to be passed on. Alternatively, both discounts and cash discounts can be reduced.
Some suppliers even miss the fact that they are giving their customers too high discounts. Because if a customer has reduced their purchase over the last two years, for example, why should they get the same discounts? Anyone who reflexively offers a customer a 3% discount should try to offer them a 2% discount in the future as a matter of course – at least for new customers. Of course, certain customers always react very sensitively to higher prices or reductions in discounts.
In this case, you should consider whether you should not carry out a qualitative customer exchange over the next few months and years. Because if you don’t appreciate the provider’s performance, it is very likely that sooner or later you will go to the cheaper competition anyway.
2. How Can The Average Order Value Be Increased?
Talking to customers is often enough to successfully sell them the right additional products. Whether this is the coffee for the bun, the books for the sales training or the insurance for the car. That is why it makes sense that all employees have ideas about which products and services they offer which suitable supplements. To say in general that the same product can always be offered separately for all products often does not work in practice, as many customers perceive this as a sales pitch – and therefore usually block it spontaneously. In addition, employees in sales are deprived of their individuality and responsibility if they have no flexibility in additional sales.
3. How Can New Customers Be Actively Won?
Active customer acquisition means that salespeople seek out potential new customers on their own initiative. For example, the area manager who sometimes goes to stores where he has never been before or the salesperson who calls companies he has not yet had contact with.
Salespeople often shy away from this method, as they could face rejection. But anyone who has an excellent offer is morally obliged to address not-yet-customers. It’s also not about winning everyone as a customer. It is much more important to even start and give more people the chance to say no to purchase or an appointment.
4. How Can New Customers Be Acquired Passively?
If customers are looking for a solution, they usually use search engines first. If you are not present on the first page of results, there is little chance that the customer will inquire. Every entrepreneur should therefore ask himself whether he has enough presence in the market. Because customers can only buy from those they know – or find for the purpose of the inquiry.
Unfortunately, however, potential new customers are also often sold. For example, because the provider’s website does not appear professional enough, the reception on the phone does not work professionally enough (“Mr. x is not there – can you call again?”) Or the promised written offer is a long time coming. Therefore: Where is there still room for improvement in order to be able to present an even more professional appearance in relation to the competitor?
Also Read: Dynamic Remarketing, What Does It Consist Of?
5. Which Companies Should You Work With Strategically?
Some inquiries and customers simply do not fit the offering company. Almost every provider has this problem. So why should you, after having come to the conclusion based on the needs analysis with the customer, that they do not fit together, not pass them on to more suitable providers or colleagues? However, if you only pass this on to certain colleagues because you receive the highest referral commission from them, you are doing something wrong.
Because referrers are responsible for ensuring that the customer is most likely to actually achieve his goals with the other company. If the recommended company does not work so well, it will fall back on the recommender. Not only can this lead to a bad word of mouth, but it can also result in bad reviews on the internet.
Cooperations can also work in such a way that, for example, a craftsman recommends another craftsman from a different trade to the customer so that he can get the job. If both work hand in hand, they can be very successful with this method alone – even if they are hardly known to the public. If the contact with the customer is good, recommendations are almost a sure-fire success.
If you’re using HubSpot, you can work with a reputable partner agency that can provide onboarding services to protect your investment and realize your sales and overall business goals. Inbound marketing specialists can manage all aspects of inbound methodologies and the entire growth suite of HubSpot, from sales and marketing to services. An inbound marketing agency can help you set up your business for success using efficient and effective strategies.
Seeking professional HubSpot onboarding services can help you with the following:
- Setup And Implementation: Your partner agency will ensure that your employees understand how to use your new software program to accelerate your sales. In addition, the onboarding specialist will help configure your settings such as your email and social media accounts.
- Database Integrations And Migrations: Your partner agency will initiate field mapping, customized data integration, report return on investment, segment contacts, and documentation for smoother integrations and migrations (such as landing page, customer relationship management or CRM software, website, email, or workflow integrations).
- Adanced Training Sessions: Your onboarding partner agency can help you in creating lists, workflows, or digital content to improve your team’s productivity and sales.
- Support And Optimization: You’ll obtain full support from a reliable onboarding partner agency so that you can get the most out of sales and marketing automation.
6. Which Advertising Measures Should Be Expanded Further?
Most of the time, it is not possible to exactly determine which advertising ultimately brought something – and which did not. It is therefore good to try out new channels in advertising.
Nevertheless, one must also reflect critically: Which trade fair participations brought what specifically? Which ad campaigns got the most customers from? What must be changed in the next campaign or action? Are there certain customers who are already fans and enthusiastically recommend customers? If you haven’t already done so, they should now receive a big thank you at the latest.
But here, too, questions help: Why do they recommend so actively? So what is the provider doing right? How could more customers be made to recommend enthusiastically?
7. Which Employees Need To Be Coached In Order To Sell Even More Confidently?
Even today, business is done between people. Even if so many purchase processes are only processed digitally, customers often come into contact with people at the latest when they have questions – or have to complain. Salespeople also need to have good ideas when, for example, the store is full and the stress level increases.
For salespeople in the field, this applies if the critical customer is to be won over for an order or the service employee who finds other conditions for his work during assembly, as originally planned. Words are fleeting. Once they are said, they cannot be brought back.
That is why employees must always be able to appear professionally towards customers. Because customers often transfer the image of an employee to the entire company. If the seller is good, his offer and company are usually good too. If this is unprofessional, everything else is often not worth the job either – at least in the customer’s image.
8. Which Billing Untreated Markets Promise New Potential?
The map often still has white areas. So where are there possibly customers who are an ideal match for you? Where could sales partners contribute to the development of new markets? A look at competitors can often help for inspiration. Where are they also active? Why? Which measures could strategically prevent them?
9. Which Products And Services Should Also Be Included In The Portfolio?
It makes perfect sense to thoroughly examine your own service portfolio on a regular basis. Which ‘runners’ and ‘bums’ does your offer include? Why is that? Why should anything change over the next three years in the previous products and services that are not running? Customers often find it very convenient when they get everything from a single source. They see that as a service. So where could more be offered to customers? The better the service portfolio fits the target customers, the easier it is for them to make a decision.
10. How Can Good Existing Customers Be Better Linked To The Company?
Interestingly, many providers focus on acquiring new customers. This is good. But: The previous good customers often feel neglected. They cannot understand why new customers receive special conditions or exclusive gifts, for example – but they themselves do not benefit from the longstanding good cooperation.
In some industries, this has already led to customers cancelling immediately as soon as they become customers, only to be generously accepted elsewhere. But can that be right? The best customers of a company are the target or desired customers of the competitors. If providers neglect their best customers too much, they are very open to poaching attempts by the competition.
Therefore, it must be considered how these good customers can be retained voluntarily. Therefore voluntarily, because this is based on sympathy and trust. Of course, “toggle contracts” are also conceivable.
But if customers are too disappointed with their suppliers, even well-designed contracts are of no use. And if the customer should be there until the end of the term, albeit reluctantly, he will be highly motivated in the meantime to tell others about the poor quality of work of the provider.
If you want to generate higher sales in 2021, you have many options. It is important to focus on one or two things – and to promote these areas with commitment. In case of doubt with external help, so that these projects not only remain mere wishes but are actually achieved as goals.
Also Read: 5 Online Marketing Keys To Sell More