Articles
Sixteen ways to increase your sales
Practical, put-‘em-to-work-now ideas for
building sales
by John Graham“No one can be everywhere at once.” Wrong! The job today is
to be in front of the customer when the need arises.
Here are practical, put-‘em-to-work-now ideas for building sales:
1. Keep surprising your customers. Be dramatic. For example,
one insurance agency offered to buy small contractors “the biggest steak
dinner” in town if its company’s policies couldn’t save them
money on their business insurance.
2. Get to the right person. Addressing mail to “Facilities
Manager”
or “Office Equipment Buyer” is weak. Hitting the target is
the name of today’s game and the bull’s-eye is coming in contact
with the precise individual you want to do business with. Also remember
that you may only be selling to one individual today, but others in the
same firm may be prospective users or buyers.
3. Be creative. Just getting the mail to the mailroom
isn’t the goal! Will anyone be intrigued enough to read your mailer
or newsletter before tossing it in the wastebasket? Today, it takes a highly
creative approach to be distinctive and compelling. Yes, creativity costs
money. But if people read your ad, your newsletter and your mailer, you
have a much better chance to do business with them.
4. Focus on what your customers care about. No one cares
about pictures of your staff or that you think you’re the best, the
oldest or the biggest. Figuring out precisely what works. When this is
your message, your product or service will be in demand.
5. Let people know what they should think of your company. They
draw conclusions by making comparisons. Ratings make a big difference to
consumers. After several life insurance companies fell by the wayside,
customers began asking about “company strength.” The J.D. Powers’
customer satisfaction surveys of cars and personal computers influence
buying behavior. Wise companies spend time and effort consciously influencing
the way they are perceived by customers and prospects (and stockholders,
too).
6. Make your offer a good one. Customers are cautious. They
don’t like being put on the spot, because no one wants to make a
mistake. This is why offers are so important. “Try it out. There’s
no obligation.” “Use it for 30 days.” “Your satisfaction
guaranteed.” “We’ll buy you the biggest steak dinner
in town if we don’t save you money on your insurance.” “Use
it risk-free.” Pull the customer to you. All this is another way
to extend your hand, put people at ease and create confidence in your company
and your product.
7. Be in the right place at the right time. “I wish I had thought
of you last week, when we bought the new…” Some salespeople shrug
off such comments: “Oh, well. No one can be everywhere at once.”
Wrong! The job today is to be in front of the customer when the need arises.
8. Name your product or service. One way to stand out
from the crowd is to give your product or service a distinctive name.
“We provide 24-hour ComfortCare Service.” Not just plain old
service, but “ComfortCare” service. Give the ordinary a new
meaning to separate your company from others in the business. Make sure,
however, that the name appeals to your customers and not just to you!
9. Be relentless. In marketing and sales, persistence is power. Too
many firms never stay with anything long enough to produce results. They never
develop a consistent marketing momentum. This all adds up to wasted money, time
and effort.
10. Identify new prospects. The single most important
daily activity in any business is prospect identification. By making this
a continuous process, companies have a steady flow of new sales leads.
Keep asking the question “Who do we want to do business with if we
have the chance?” To cultivate them over time, add prospects to a
database.
11. Write customer-centered letters. “As per our conversation…”
“Pursuant to our agreement…” When was the last time you
heard someone talk this way? Yet, put many people behind a pen and they
become stilted, cold and ineffective. Letters should be warm, friendly,
interesting and customer-centered.
12. Focus on the question “Why should anyone
want to do business with us?” What
makes us different from others in the same business? Why do we deserve to be
in business? Once companies begin asking these questions, they uncover the real
reasons why customers should want to do business with them.
13. Only tell part of the story at one time. There’s a tendency to try
to jam everything we know into one brochure, one ad, one newsletter. We don’t
want to leave anything out! The really difficult job is to pull it all apart,
break ideas into component parts and then develop an ongoing campaign.
14. Personalize everything. The day of “Dear Friend,” “Dear
Customer” and particularly “Dear Valued Customer” is gone.
Don’t bother mailing a letter that isn’t personalized with a name.
Use the power in personalization.
15. Take advantage of testimonials. Your credibility increases if you let a satisfied
customer blow your horn for you. People are sometimes reluctant to provide a
testimonial because they are not sure they’re saying the right words or
are afraid that you will be disappointed with their comments. A better way is
to interview them, hear what they are saying, and then prepare comments for their
approval. This way you reassure them and get testimonials that will work best
for you.
16. Make marketing your mission. Too many companies only turn to marketing when
they need to increase their sales. This “shotgun” approach simply
won’t work! Communicating your company’s message in new and interesting
ways is an ongoing process. Getting customers and prospects to believe in your
product or service is the best way to attract and keep them.
It isn’t good enough to produce the best product or service. The final
goal is to get the customer to want what you sell. That’s where these 16
down-to-earth suggestions can make a big difference to your sales.
John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm. He is the author of The New Magnet Marketing and Break the Rules Selling, writes for a variety of business publications, and speaks on business, marketing and sales issues. Contact him at 40 Oval Road, Quincy, MA 02170; 617-328-0069; jgraham@grahamcomm.com.