According to 2018 data from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the majority of businesses in the United States are considered small businesses. Small business owners encounter a diverse range of obstacles, including meeting sales goals. With that in mind, here’s how to improve sales goals for small businesses.
Set strategic goals
In order to improve sales performance, it’s crucial to set goals that are both specific and quantifiable. Creating measurable sales goals can motivate you and your employees to work harder, especially if everyone knows exactly what they’re working to accomplish. For instance, if you want to double your sales, try setting a smaller, more realistic goal to improve sales by 10 percent each month.
If you’re not sure how to start setting goals, consider utilizing the services of a professional. Salesgenie, a platform for businesses to boost sales leads, offers automated marketing campaigns as well as tools for measuring sales performance. Investing in professional services allows small business owners to effectively meet internal goals.
Start cross-selling
Cross-selling is a great way to increase sales performance and generate more revenue. It involves offering goods and services that are complementary to the ones you’re already selling. For example, a customer purchasing a hair dryer could be easily cross-sold a hairbrush.
Cross-selling typically points consumers in the direction of products that they would have purchased anyway. In order to effectively implement cross-selling, it’s important to show consumers the right products at the right time. Ecommerce businesses often cross-sell on product pages and throughout the checkout process. To cross-sell in-store, try placing products strategically to demonstrate their value in conjunction to other products.
Re-evaluate your sales model
If your current sales model lacks a loyalty program, consider switching to a sales model based on customer relations. Relationship-based sales models keep customers coming back to your business and creates a sense of transparency. In fact, studies have revealed that customers with emotional connections to a brand offer a lifetime value to your business four times higher than your average customer.
Creating a loyalty program is as simple as offering monthly or yearly service plans to repeat customers. According to research, over half of loyal customers will join a loyalty program if prompted. Members of loyalty programs spend more because they receive benefits in return. For instance, offering customers a discount code for a future purchase when they spend over $50 will motivate them to spend more to take advantage of the benefit.
Outsource payments
Integrating professional payment outsourcing can help you save time and money as well as devote more attention to improving sales performance. Given that approximately one-third of all invoices are paid late, invoicing software can send payment reminders on your behalf and send out bundled invoices in a timely manner. If you outsource payment processing, you’ll also save money in the long-run by eliminating paper and printing costs.Although the initial investment may seem costly, staying on top of invoices enables you to get paid faster, buy more inventory, and make more sales.
Improving sales performance is paramount to the success and growth of any business. Regardless of the type of business you’re running, creating strategic sales goals, cross-selling, and switching to a relationship-based sales model will contribute to the growth of your business and give you a significant edge over competitors. In addition, outsourcing payment processing can save time and money by helping you devote more attention to boosting sales.
