How to Increase sales: best strategies for business

How to Increase sales: best strategies for business

In the modern business world, where competition increases daily, entrepreneurs must find new and innovative approaches to attract customers and tools to boost sales. I offer you a WOW strategy that helps create unforgettable impressions for customers and ensures their loyalty for many years.

But before diving into the details of this strategy, let’s review the basic business rules that will help every entrepreneur succeed.

The Average Check Matters!

Increasing the average check is the best medicine for business. I always start with this when entering a new project, so offer additional products or services to every customer. For example, when a customer orders coffee, suggest they buy a cake or other pastry. This simple trick will help increase the average check.

Example: the coffee shop “Lvivska Kava” offers coffee sets with cakes or sandwiches at an attractive price, encouraging customers to buy more than just coffee.

Be Faster

Increase the speed of customer service, especially when there is a queue. The faster you serve, the less likely a customer will leave without waiting for their turn. Use automation and optimize business processes, implementing AI to reduce waiting time.

Example: the Silpo supermarket uses self-service checkouts and express lanes to reduce waiting time for customers with small purchases.

Don't Leave Money on the Table

Sell at higher prices and increase the value of your products and services to justify the higher price. For example, implement premium packages or unique solutions that will be interesting to customers. The principle “Be expensive or be free” can help determine the pricing strategy.

Example: Roshen offers exclusive products such as gift sets and limited series, which further emphasize its premium status.

Active Sales

Constantly and systematically encourage customers to return to you more often. The most valuable thing you have is your base of loyal customers. Study how often customers make purchases in your industry, and come up with ways for them to do it more often. This can be through loyalty programs, special offers, or new products that appear more frequently.

Example: Privat24 constantly introduces new online services and products to meet the needs of modern customers.

To succeed in these four areas, you need to change your business processes, implement automation, motivate staff, and improve the value proposition. The implementation of technologies and effective practices in these areas will help your business grow and guarantee effective sales.

Checklist for Implementing Strategic Tools

• Optimize all aspects of your business to increase efficiency and speed of work.
• Create packages that include several products or services at an attractive price.
• Apply strategies that increase the average check of each customer through additional sales.
• Motivate employees to achieve high results through bonuses and other incentives.
• Implement modern technologies to reduce time on routine tasks and increase overall productivity.

Rule 1: Stop Customer Churn!

In any business, customers can leave. A simple way to retain them is the “Stop Churn” method. How does it work?

Imagine your sales funnel is a bucket, and customers are water. You “pour” customers into this bucket and check if there are holes through which customers leave. Your task is to find these weak points. For this, you need a CRM system!

Many entrepreneurs focus on attracting new customers and forget about such “holes” in their business. But there is always a solution. Close these holes, and customers will stay with you. Using this approach, you can increase your profits.

Why Do Customers Leave?

Focusing on attracting new customers, we often forget about those who leave us. If customers leave not silently but spread negative information about you, you lose not only income but also reputation.

Therefore, MATVIEIEV recommends:

Rule 2: Keep Up with Trends

In the business world, something is constantly appearing, disappearing, or updating. Therefore, it is essential to keep your finger on the pulse of all changes. Today, the following approaches and strategies are trending.

Marketing Strategies

• Video Marketing: creating video content to promote products and services, including live streams and video reviews.
• Storytelling: using storytelling to build a brand and engage customers.
• Personalization: ising data to create individual offers for customers.
• Experiential Marketing: hosting events and activities that provide customers with a unique experience interacting with the brand.
• Interactive Content: using polls, quizzes, calculators to engage customers.
• Socially-Ethical Marketing: implementing ethical practices and social responsibility in business.

Examples:

• The online store Rozetka uses live streams to showcase new products and host giveaways.
• The Silpo supermarket organizes culinary master classes and tastings to attract new customers and stimulate repeat purchases.

Technologies and Innovations

• Marketing Automation: using automated systems to manage marketing campaigns and track results.
• Digitization: using AR, MR, VR, automation, Big Data, CRM, chatbots, the Internet of Things (IoT).
• Voice Search: optimizing content for voice search to interact with voice assistants.
• Mobile Apps: developing mobile apps to improve customer interaction.
• Analytics and Data: using analytical tools to understand customer behavior and optimize strategies.

Examples:

• Liki24, a medicine delivery service, optimizes its content for voice search, allowing users to quickly find and order the necessary medicines through voice assistants.
• PrivatBank has developed the Privat24 mobile app, enabling customers to perform banking operations, pay bills, transfer money, and more, providing a high level of convenience and accessibility.

Customer Engagement and Retention Strategies

• Customer Focus: enhancing service levels, collecting feedback, using NPS.
• Loyalty Programs: encouraging regular customers with special discounts and bonuses.
• Social Networks: using Instagram, TikTok to attract and interact with customers.
• Omni-Channel Marketing: ensuring a seamless experience for customers across different channels.
• Local Marketing: focusing on attracting customers in your region or city.
• Crowdfunding Platforms: using crowdfunding platforms to finance new projects.

Examples:

• The company Kasta has improved service levels through fast and free delivery, an easy return process, regular customer surveys, and using the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure customer satisfaction.
• Makeup uses Instagram and TikTok to create content showcasing products, conduct live streams, contests, and giveaways, and interact with customers through comments and direct messages.

Improving Internal Processes

• Automation: implementing modern technologies to reduce time on routine tasks and increase productivity.
• Simplification: simplifying business processes to increase efficiency.
• 24/7 Customer Support: implementing round-the-clock customer support to increase satisfaction and loyalty.

Examples:

• Kyivstar uses robots and chatbots to automate processing customer requests, automatic service configuration, and bill processing.
• Monobank provides round-the-clock customer support through a mobile app, where customers can get help in chat or via a phone line.

Other Trends

• Gamification: implementing game elements to engage customers.
• Blue Oceans: creating new markets or niches without competitors.
• Trust: building trusting relationships with customers.
• Value: increasing the value of goods and services for customers.
• Cleanliness and Safety: ensuring safe and environmentally friendly conditions for customers.

Implementing these trends will help you stay competitive and meet the modern market demands and be on top, not under it.

Rule 3: Know WOW Trends

I know almost everything about them and am happy to share insights. They are also about how to increase sales.

• Benchmarking: comparing yourself with competitors and companies from other industries. It’s like “look and learn”: observe others and adopt useful ideas. For example, Samsung actively studies the products and strategies of competitors such as Apple to improve its own products and services.

• Video: people read less and watch more videos. So, if your site doesn’t have video, that’s a bad sign. For example, BuzzFeed Video uses video on all platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, and its own website, to engage the audience.

• Internal Marketing: this is when employees are treated like customers. Google provides its employees with comfortable working conditions, innovative projects, and support, creating a culture where every employee feels valued.

• Customer Return: a trend that has remained relevant for decades, you need to learn to return customers. Amazon actively works on returning customers through personalized recommendations, reminders about items left in the cart, and loyalty programs.

• Gamification: using games for two tasks: engaging employees in better work and encouraging customers to buy. For example, Duolingo uses game elements such as points, levels, and rewards to motivate users to learn new languages.

• Blue Oceans: a market without competitors, is also a trend. A good example here is Cirque du Soleil. It’s about creating a new market by combining circus art with theatrical elements, without direct competitors.

• Attention Defici: while reading this text, you’re probably being distracted by messages, family, etc. People are less willing to read long texts or watch long videos, so it’s important to be concise and clear. Twitter is a good example of this. The format of short messages (up to 280 characters) ensures quick content consumption.

• Design: understanding the basics of design is crucial, as investments in design increase profits by 3%, according to the London Business College. Apple knows this well, continuously investing in the design of products that combine aesthetics and functionality, ensuring an attractive look and ease of use.

• Channels: a company should use different sales channels: a person can view a product on the website and buy it through a mobile app or in a store. Popular IKEA is known for using a multi-channel approach, including physical stores, an online store, and a mobile app.

• Disintermediation: reducing the supply chain by removing intermediaries. This is about Tesla, which ensures direct sales of cars to consumers without intermediaries.

• Personal Marketing: entrepreneurs need to build a personal brand. News from the leader is read 70% more than from the company. Elon Musk on Twitter knows everything about building a personal brand through social networks, media appearances, and innovative projects.

• Personalization:  CocaCola also showed an interesting example with bottles with names.

An entrepreneur must find time to work with trends. The company should have a person dedicated to this, a marketing specialist who can be periodically asked: “What’s new?”

Checklist for Implementing Trends and Personal Marketing ?

✏️Working with Trends

• Allocate at least 4 hours to work.
• Go through the list of trends and understand each at the level of “what is it?”.
• Determine if the trend suits your company.
• At the next meeting, discuss with colleagues how to implement the selected trends.

✏️Basic Steps

• Know a lot (no one knows everything). If you hear an unfamiliar word – ask.
• Understand if this trend is “ours”.
• Identify the main thing.
• Focus on it and do it.
• Conduct a search.
• Review several materials.
• Understand what it is for you or your business.
• Decide “need – don’t need”.
• Forget, dig, implement.

✏️Personal Marketing

Find yourself (why do I live?):

• • Determine what you can be useful to others (your products/services/impressions).
  • Determine who these “others” are (people/companies).
  • Answer the question “Why you?”.

Trust:

• • Do you inspire trust?
  • Are you recommended (how?).

Activity:

• • What and how do you do what you do?

Rules:

• • Make your rules of work and life.

Professional pride:

• • Answer the question “What are you proud of?” and provide evidence.

Cost:

• • Determine your cost (hour/project/month).

Appearance:

• • How do you look? Pack yourself (and it’s not just Insta).

Recognition:

• • How do you increase your recognition? (networking, “talk” and “write”).

Professional and personal growth:

• • Start earlier.
  • Constantly grow professionally and personally.
  • Always do everything well.
  • Stop only at “retirement”.

Client feedback:

• • Collect feedback from clients about your work.
  • Use feedback to improve your services or products.

Feedback from colleagues:

• • Ask for feedback from colleagues and supervisors.
  • Use constructive criticism for professional development.

Social networks:

• • • Regularly update profiles on social networks.
    • Publish professional achievements and important events.

Blog or website:

• • Maintain a personal blog or professional website.
  • Publish useful materials and articles related to your field of activity.

Public appearances:

• • Participate in conferences, seminars, and webinars.
  • Prepare presentations and speeches on professional topics.

Partnerships:

• • Establish partnerships with other professionals and companies.
  • Collaborate on joint projects and initiatives.

Training:

• • Constantly improve your knowledge and skills.
  • Attend courses, seminars, and trainings.

Reading:

• • Read professional literature and articles.
  • Keep up with the news in your industry.

Mentorship:

• • Find a mentor or coach for professional growth.
  • Become a mentor for less experienced colleagues.

Personal time:

• • Allocate time for rest and personal interests.
  • Balance between work and personal life.

Health:

• • Take care of your physical and mental health.
  • Engage in sports and proper nutrition.

Planning:

• • Create clear plans for the day, week, month.
  • Track your progress and adjust plans as needed.

By following this checklist, you can effectively implement new trends in your business and develop your personal brand, contributing to achieving professional and personal goals. You have received a clear plan on how to increase profits, so there should be no excuses ?

How to Increase Sales: What to Sell First?

The correct answer: first sell yourself, then the company, and only then the product. It is important to remember a simple truth: people buy from people, not companies!

For example, imagine you are selling project management software. First, you need to make a positive impression as a professional who understands the client’s needs. Then you tell about the company that has experience and reliability in this field. And only after that do you present the software itself, highlighting its advantages and features that meet the client’s needs.

For example, for a client to accept your decision, they may need to hear it up to 16 times.

My motto: “Know what to do. Know how to do. Take and do.” Today I told you what to do and how, now it’s your turn to take and do.

 

You can learn more about where to find business ideas and how to adapt them to the Ukrainian market on my Telegram channel.