A small and medium enterprise often has a hard time controlling their operational expenses. After all, the market dictates the costs and trends, which means that all you can do is find a way to stay afloat. The most organic way to do so is to improve your sales. Here are the top six changes you should introduce in order to make this happen.
1. Start using CRM
In the past, small local businesses had a huge advantage of knowing their target audience on a personal basis. They were a part of the community, and since the majority of their customers had no alternatives, they were long-time customers whom they knew by first name. All of this changed in the age of the internet.
Sure, small businesses now have the potential for a much bigger reach, but they’ve lost this vital connection that allowed them to provide superior service and inspire greater loyalty. Why? Well, because they’ve lost connection with their target audience.
Now, even SMEs have no idea who their audience is. Even if they do understand the demographics through basic analytics, the peculiarities of each person’s purchase history elude them. What they need is to know more about their audience in order to provide a superior service.
You can do this with CRM (customer relations management) software. Even a basic CRM tool is enough for small UK business needs, and it can help you develop a much deeper understanding of your customer base.
2. Give your customers more privacy
Now, this part may sound a bit contradictory. After all, we’ve just talked about understanding and knowing your audience, but at the same time, you’re advised to give them more privacy. What’s this all about?
Well, the simplest answer is – even in this day and age, people are really sensitive about their private data. So, you need to make sure you’re always compliant with the most relevant regulations. Give them a chance to consent to their data being taken and used, and inform them how they can retract this consent form.
Other than that, don’t insist on them having to register in order to buy/play, and don’t ask for too much information. This is especially the case in industries where they might want to keep their activity even more secret. For instance, there’s a reason why no ID verification casinos work so much better than some of their counterparts.
Having to register generally increases the shopping cart abandonment rate and hurts your sales. Sure, you should incentivize registering but never insist on it.
3. Diversify your offer
Banking all your success on a single item is never a great idea. After all, diversifying your streams of revenue is one of the ways SMEs can successfully navigate financial challenges. Sure, as a small business, you may not have enough money lying around to buy real estate that will return rent or buy enough stocks to make this dividend count, but you can, at least, diversify your offer a bit.
You see, most businesses quickly learn that the success of some of their products varies seasonally.
Just imagine selling gardening equipment. How much are you going to make during winter? Sure, some people love to be prepared ahead of the season, but the majority of them buy it when spring is already here.
Instead, why not offer some products that will help you winterize your pipes, cover for some of the more fragile garden elements, etc?
Having a great and diverse offer also protects you from market fluctuations, which is something that SMEs are especially sensitive to. This way, you get more market resilience.
4. Increase your online presence
Boosting your online presence will make you look more credible and expose you to more potential leads. This is why it should be one of your first priorities.
The first thing you need to work on is clearly your site/e-store. This is what you’re linking toward, regardless of whether you’re doing an SEO campaign, sharing on social media, or paying for ads. This is a starting point and an endpoint, and it has to be flawless.
Next, you want to start a blog. Sure, this takes a lot of time and effort, but you should, at the very least, try to publish one post per week. This can help you establish a relationship with your audience and significantly boost your online presence.
You also want to invest in your social media presence. Just prioritize the network that’s crucial for your industry. For instance, while in retail, Facebook and Instagram dominate, in real estate, both Pinterest and LinkedIn are incredibly potent.
5. Educate your team on upselling and cross-selling
One of the best ways to maximize the value of every sale is to educate your team on upselling and cross-selling to the best of your abilities.
- Upselling: This is the art of convincing your buyers to purchase a more expensive item than the one intended. For instance, if you were to work at a fast-food joint and you managed to convince your patron to switch from a medium-sized soda to a large one, you would be conducting a successful upselling action.
- Cross-selling: Cross-selling is the art of convincing a buyer to purchase an extra item that will complement their current purchase. For instance, if someone came to you in order to buy a laptop and you sold them a laptop bag, this would be a successful cross-selling instance.
The bottom line is that these techniques work because they make sense, and they convince the buyer that they’ve gotten more value from the purchase. It’s a handy trick that you should never underestimate.
Still, for all of this to work, your team needs to learn how to upsell.
6. Get more reviews
Customers are becoming increasingly budget-savvy, which means that they’re unlikely to spend too much money unless they do proper research. Now, don’t expect them to compare manuals and read too much into every feature, but what they’ll definitely look into are the reviews.
The problem with reviews is that not every customer who is satisfied with your product will leave a positive review. Instead, you have to encourage these reviews, even directly ask for them. You can do it in a post-sale follow-up; this is when it’s most convenient for everyone.
Just keep in mind that you need negative reviews, as well. First of all, they’re an invaluable source of feedback. Moreover, they’re great for your ratio. You see, these negative reviews actually give you some legitimacy. Without them, your audience might assume that you’re deleting negative comments. Just make sure that you maintain a positive ratio, and there’s nothing to be afraid of.
Improving sales requires an approach from a new angle
The most important question you have to ask is, what can you do for your customers? It’s not the other way around. Do they want more privacy, more value, or a more unique offer? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you understand what you have to do to make the situation better. Fortunately, there’s so much you can do to improve the situation in question, and by following this guide, you’ll already have taken the first few steps.
