Are you looking to increase your sales? Many people start a business with the goal of making buckets of money, but often their sales funnel doesn’t convert as well as they hoped or expected says Peter Decaprio.
The following 9 tactics can help you improve your business immeasurably.
1. Monitor Conversion Rates
People don’t buy from those who can’t sell, and businesses that fail do so because they have poor conversion rates. You should monitor these at all stages of the sales process – from initial contact through to post-sales support – and work out where things are going wrong for particular customers. All too often, companies simply give up when a customer fails to convert rather than trying another approach. By analyzing customers’ responses via email, chat, email marketing, social media, and customer support it is possible to understand what makes them tick.
2. Sell Benefits Not Features
People don’t buy products or services; they buy better versions of themselves. When you strip away the features and focus on the benefits that these features bring; people will be more likely to convert. The real art of sales lies in understanding how your product improves a person’s life and then communicating this benefit as if it were a problem for that person (even if it isn’t).
3. Find Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Every business has its own unique selling proposition, but many fail to identify theirs before pitching their wares to potential customers says Peter Decaprio. Finding out your USP doesn’t come easy, but it can be done. Try asking your customers what makes you stand out from your competitors and the answers may surprise you. Some businesses focus on price, others on service, but most fail to set themselves apart by focusing on unique benefits their customers gain from using them.
4. Hit the Target
“If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” Unless you are running a business with an unassailable lead over your competitors (highly unlikely!) then there will always be parts of the sales funnel that require improvement. For example, look at how many emails go unanswered or how many phone calls aren’t returned; all of these activities cost money and time, both of which could be better spent improving your top-line revenue numbers.
5. Establish a Sales Funnel
A sales funnel is a visual representation of the path you take your customers on; right from the point they first come into contact with you, through to them becoming paying customers. Tracking this journey ensures that every possible avenue has been explored to encourage conversions. For many small businesses, time and money are limited resources, so it pays (literally) to ensure that these are being spent wisely by following each stage of your sales funnel as closely as possible.
6. Train Your Sales People
People buy from other people because they trust them more than businesses – especially if they have never met before – so encouraging greater levels of interaction around product features isn’t always the best approach to take. Instead, incentivize your sales team to establish better quality relationships with customers, whether face-to-face or via more modern methods of communication. As well as improving conversion rates, this will also reduce the number of potential customers that walk away because they feel under pressure to buy or don’t trust you.
7. Outsource Non-Sales Related Tasks to Service Providers
If your company sells products rather than services then it is imperative that you outsource tasks outside of actually selling; for example, customer support can be delegated to third parties who are more cost-effective (for both sides) and able to respond faster than internal teams says Peter Decaprio. Similarly, contact lists should be routinely updated by email marketing providers who can segment emails based on customer behavior and represent them more accurately.
8. Continue To Educate Customers with the Right Information
Just because somebody buys something from you, even if it is on a regular basis, doesn’t mean that they are truly happy with what you are offering them. This is why email marketing and other types of customer support should continue after the point of purchase; to act as an ongoing source of education for customers. So they can get more out of your product or service. For example, educating customers about. How to use different features in conjunction with one another (and not just how to operate each individual element) will help people get more value out of their investment while also encouraging additional purchases down the line.
9. Find the Problem behind Your Customers
The fact that somebody complains about your product or service doesn’t necessarily mean that they are unhappy with it; more often than not, complaints can indicate. That there is a problem but the customer isn’t fully aware of what it is. If somebody calls your company to complain about something then ask them if you can. Investigate further before dismissing their complaint as invalid. This will lead to larger problems being solved and happier customers. Who won’t be so vocal about things in the future.
Conclusion:
Peter Decaprio explains this is a simple process that can be applied to practically any business model. The fact is, no matter how good your product or service is. There will always be something you could improve upon. This comes from the nature of business itself and why millions start new projects every year. In an attempt to make their companies bigger. However, if you take a step back from this and think about what customers actually want then it. Becomes easier to establish which tweaks would have the largest effect on changing buying habits among a wider audience too.
