What is one sales technique that can help grow a small business?
To help small business owners create sales techniques to grow their business, we asked small business owners and business leaders for their best insights. From leveraging automation for tasks to curating a virtual event, there are several approaches that may help you build and grow your small business for years to come.
Here are 11 sales strategies to help grow your small business:
- Know Your Competitors
- Leverage Automation for Tasks
- Show Gratitude for Support
- Equip Your Team Properly
- Optimize Your Web Design
- Give Customers Choices
- Curate a Virtual Event
- Consistently Follow Up
- Keep Your Tools Up-to-Date
- Target Market on Social Media
- Start Customers Referral Program
Know Your Competitors
Before launching any business, entrepreneurs should stay up to date on their competition in the market. A competitive analysis should include competitor product summaries, marketing strategies, and a market forecast. By considering the competition in your area, you can adjust your marketing strategy to optimize growth opportunities and target potential customers. We are not short of competitors in the insurance industry, but staying informed of our competition and creating a marketing strategy with a thorough competitive analysis in mind is an integral part of business success.
-Chris Abrams, Abrams Insurance Solutions
Automate Administrative Tasks
One way to save time in your sales documenting process is to incorporate workflow automation, such as artificial intelligence and robotic process automation, into your customer relationship management (CRM) platform. The biggest advantage to using these tools is the time your sales team will save from administrative tasks so they can build meaningful relationships with clients. Some workflows that can be automated include: sales guidance that reminds sales representatives when to follow-up with clients, lead management that can sort top prospective customers, and customer communication that sends email outreach to clients at any given point of your sales funnel.
-Spiros Skolarikis, Comidor
Show Gratitude for Support
One simple way to grow your business is by showing gratitude to your customers. Send a handwritten thank-you note or a cheerful thank-you email to current customers. Customers talk and if existing customers speak well about you to potential customers, it can help you earn the business of those who might be more hesitant. Having solid customer relationships and a great customer experience is going to benefit you in the long run as you grow your business.
-David Wachs, Handwrytten
Equip Your Team Properly
Providing excellent service to customers is of critical importance to us and the growth of our company. Our mission is to deliver your policy at a good price and to get you approved quickly. Part of that strategy is having a great reputation with insurance companies and their underwriters. Having senior underwriters who can confirm approvals and pricing is another value add to our customer service offerings. This assures customer satisfaction and ultimately helps scale our business.
-Brian Greenberg, Insurist
Optimize Your Web Design
Today, the internet is the new version of the yellow pages. If you aren’t online, then you are invisible to a huge portion of potential clients who could be searching for your product or service. Website design is a black box to many and can be intimidating. However, there are now companies that are making web design approachable, easy to understand, and even fun. Our company is an example of a great locally run company, offering cheap web design packages. Companies like ours will design your entire website and get you online. You get what you pay for, so if you are a local company looking to go online, do it with a local web design company and work with real people.
-Jocelyn Bowmaker, Cariad Web Design
Give Customers Choices
Provide choices when you are selling. Ask them a “this or that” question: if 9 a.m. or 9:30 a.m. works for them, if they would rather have a jacket or a purse, etc. Never get them to say no, only provide choices for them. This helps them feel like they are still in control while you steer the conversation.
-Bari Medgaus, Stabili-Teeth
Curate a Virtual Event
People are bored sitting at home without offline events. COVID still scares them a lot. What can your small business do to replace old offline channels? I conducted a meetup with my target audience in California from right here in the Ukraine. It’s pretty doable to find groups where your potential audience is. Or create your own community on Eventbrite or Meetups.com. I spent just a couple of hours creating groups and event descriptions and got five people into a Zoom event.
-Oleg Kalyta, ProductCrafters
Consistently Follow Up
It is vital to follow through in sales. One must communicate very clearly and set clear expectations of what to expect, as well as follow through on what is needed. It is so important to stay organized and have a good process and systems in place to ensure each step of the sales cycle is executed promptly and correctly.
-Alison Stine, Stine Wealth Management
Keep Your Tools Up to Date
As a small business, having data at your disposal can make a massive difference in terms of identifying trends, seizing opportunities, and navigating your lead generation process. When it comes to scaling your operations, this information can help guide your expansion and take out some of the guesswork that inherently comes with selling as a small business. It’s important to leverage the interactions you’ve had with individual leads and to keep relevant information on file for later use.
This gives your sales team the opportunity to call upon this data, enabling them to target a lead’s pain points accurately, use these insights to conduct data analysis, and communicate on a more personal level. By keeping your CRM up to date, you’ll be clear on when a lead was last contacted, why they first got in touch, and what they might need before making a commitment with your company. This means that you’ll never lose track as your business scales.
-Paul Sherman, Olive
Optimize Social Media Platforms
All of your social media profiles must be appropriately optimized to increase your chances of attracting prospects. Make sure your profiles include detailed information about you and your business in a way that elicits a response from visitors. You want your message to resonate with them so they want to know more about your business. Keep your social media profiles aligned with your brand but varied in style for each platform. Only direct resources towards social media platforms you plan on using to find potential customers.
-Carrie Derocher, TextSanity
Start a Customer Referral Program
Depending on your product or service, try starting a referral program. This keeps loyal customers and brings in new ones easily. Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the better marketing methods. Provide good incentives for your customers.
-Jason Wong, Doe Lashes
Reprinted with permission from – score.org – By Brett Farmiloe
