The new year can be a perfect time to re-evaluate your sales and marketing strategies to ensure that the following months result in strong sales. Taking proactive steps to ensure you don’t see a sales decline can help your business before it’s too late. Taking the time and putting in the effort to strengthen your business activities can greatly boost your bottom line. To avoid a sales decline this year, consider doing the following activities. Focus on Inbound Marketing If your sales activities are still largely centred on cold calling, you risk seeing a sales decline. Buying behaviours have changed and your selling strategies have to change, too. Cold calling and aggressive outbound techniques won’t work —as they haven’t for several years now. Put down that phone and start creating an inbound marketing strategy instead. With inbound marketing, you focus your efforts on pumping out fresh and informative content online—through your website, on your blog, on social media, and through email marketing—to lure potential customers to you. Chasing them won’t work, so get them to come to you by providing them with valuable information that they can use to make informed purchasing decisions. Inbound marketing will not only get you more customers and sales, but it will also increase your brand recognition and awareness, turn you into a thought leader in your industry, and build trust in order to turn one-time buyers into loyal customers. The Customer Is KingAre you still relying on the same old sales pitch that you use in every meeting? Do you tell every client about your newest awards and recognition? If so, it’s time to stop. The harsh reality is clients don’t care about you or your company. They care about themselves. In any sales opportunity, the customer is king. And every customer is different. Don’t use the same sales pitch on every client—tailor it to meet their unique needs. All it takes is a little effort and research. Stop talking about yourself and focus on them. On their needs, wants, and problems. Let them know what your products or services can do for them specifically. Have a conversation and be empathetic to their needs. Upgrade Your WebsiteOne of the most valuable tools you have in your inbound marketing toolbox is your website. In order to avoid a sales decline, upgrade your website for a better user experience. A stale, static website that isn’t updated frequently won’t attract and hold on to your visitors. Instead, make it fresh and dynamic and ensure that the style, design, and copy on your website are directly focused on the target audience you’ve identified. A responsive website that can be displayed well on any type of device—from a PC to a tablet and smart phone—can also help you stay profitable. Potential customers search for information online on a variety of devices and you don’t want to lose them because your website doesn’t show up well on their devices. Development custom ERP software can also help you. Be FlexibleEven the best sales and marketing strategies won’t be profitable forever. With technology constantly changing the game, it’s important to be flexible in every aspect of your business. New apps, software, and selling techniques are coming to light. You must adapt when necessary in order to avoid a sales decline. Look at the latest technology developments and see if any of them can help you get an edge over your competitors by making your business more efficient and streamlined. Go with the FlowIn order to avoid a sales decline, you must go with the flow—you can’t hold on to old ideas and tactics. You must adapt with the new world if you’re going to stay profitable in 2015. Create an awesome inbound marketing campaign, focus on your customer’s needs, upgrade and update your website, and be flexible with all your business activities. Make changes when needed.
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