15 Ways to Increase Sales

Whether you are a small business owner or a sales professional there are key things you must do in order to increase sales.

1. Market like you never have before. Be sure you have segmented your market. Be sure you are targeting the right market with the right message at the right time. Develop or Create an Ideal Client Profile.
2. UpSell and Crossell every purchase. Write down all your products and services. Group those that are complimentary together.
3. Increase Prices 10%. Most businesses are charging less money than they should. If you charge what you are worth than you can deliver superior results.
4. Study other industries to see what they are doing. Try a few things other industries use as best practices.
5. Talk to everyone everywhere you go. Don’t be bashful. Strike up a conversation and start talking.
6. Focus Focus Focus on Income Producing Activities. Focus on the high priority tasks. Delegate the rest.
7. Develop a Plan. “If you are failing to plan, you are failing to plan.” A plan is essential for growth. Start with a list of things you need to do to increase your sales. Add to it as you come across more things that need to be done.
8. Know where you are now. First things first what is your current sales volume now. What is the total number of sales currently? Also determine what is the total by product or service. Use the 80/20 Rule here what are your top 20% of the products or services
9. Determine where you want to be. What are your sales goals? If you are a business owner you will also want to write down your profitability goals? You can break these down by month, week or even day. This will give you a gauge on which to work on daily.
10. In order to increase your sales, it’s time to focus on Income Producing Activities. What are you doing all day? How much time are you wasting. Think you don’t waste time, think again. At the end of each day, ask yourself and be honest, did I focus on Income Producing Activities all day or Is what I did today moving me closer or farther away from meeting my goals. Using the 820/20 rule comes into play here as well, 20% of your activities/time will account for 80% of your sales. Pay attention to where time goes. Always work from a list. Do the most important things first.
11. Are you targeting the right target market? Do you have customers that you need to fire because they drain all your energy? Develop an ideal client profile. Start to weed out customers or clients who don’t fit your ideal client profile.
12. When was the last time you asked for referrals? Start sending a referral letter at least every 3 months to past clients or business associates (those in your network). Make sure you give referrals as well. Develop a referral strategy.
13. Develop a roadmap. There are probably at least 10 things you’ve been meaning to do to grow your business and just haven’t. Well now is the time. Write them down, along with everything else you have to do to accomplish your goals. Don’t limit yourself. You can accomplish twice as much as you are currently by prioritizing and doing what is important.
14. Offer a range of products or services if you don’t already. Upsell, crossell or downsell every sale. Show prospects the value. Offer complimentary products and services together. Listen to your customers, they will tell you what they need and where their pain and pleasure points are.
15. Activate old customers. Do you have a system in place to activate old customers? If not, it’s time to get one. Research indicates that it cost 5 to 6 times as much to acquire a new one then to retain an old one.