How can the sales department increase the company's turnover? Find out working ways to increase sales Consultations on increasing sales

Date of writing: 23.10.2023

Reading time: 34 minutes

Increasing sales volume is, of course, a hot topic. True, I’m not sure that all 22 methods proposed in this article actually work. But it's worth a try.

Sales volume is the main indicator of the success of every company. And the task of the commercial department is to make this indicator as high as possible.

In this article, we have collected 22 effective ways to increase sales for the most common areas of activity. Let's start looking at them.

Volume of sales, or rather its increase, sooner or later begins to worry every manager. It is important to understand that increasing sales volume is a complex and multifaceted task that requires an integrated approach to solve.

In addition, there are no universal solutions in the world of commerce; for each case, you need to try different approaches. As practice shows, some solutions will be effective, while others will not bring the desired result. This is fine.

But it is necessary to work thoroughly to increase sales volume. Let's focus on proven ways to increase sales.

Method number 1. Offer your customers at least three different offers

Often when new clients contact a company, it is quite difficult to predict their price range. Therefore, by offering products from only one price range, there is a possibility of not guessing the buyer’s preferences and expectations. It would be more rational to offer several options - in particular, standard, business and premium sets.

The so-called sales psychology will operate here - the buyer understands that he is offered goods for any price range. Therefore, the likelihood of ordering increases significantly. But it is important to carefully consider the proposed sets from different price niches, explaining to the client the differences between them.

Method number 2. USP or differentiation from competitors

You should analyze your possible differences in comparison with other market participants. If you differ from other companies only in the price offered, fundamental changes are required.

Possible competitive advantages may include: free and/or fast delivery, service, provision of related services, bonuses and gifts for customers, constant availability of products in stock, etc.

Method number 2. Visual commercial offers

The commercial proposal must be drawn up in such a way as to really interest the client. Namely, with a detailed description of the characteristic advantages of the service provided. For short-term promotions, this commercial offer should be supplemented with information about the company's promotions and discounts.

Method No. 3. Report on completed work every quarter

Clients often do not understand what exactly and how much they receive when concluding a subscription service agreement. Therefore, we decided to regularly send detailed reports, indicating information about the work performed - to improve loyalty from our target audience.

Method number 4. Promotion of services using the Internet

Thanks to the website, we were able to significantly improve the results - there we indicated all the information about special offers, posted videos with information about the features of subscription services, and explained the advantages of working with us.

In addition, we thoroughly approached the issues of search engine promotion, updating the structure, design, and navigation of the site to increase resource traffic.

Method No. 5. Improving application processing

Improvement of the CRM system includes the function of submitting an electronic client application, with which the client can easily find out about the current status of the application. Applications marked “urgent” are processed first, without waiting for the general queue.

Automating the processing of incoming applications allowed us to significantly increase the overall loyalty of the user audience, simplifying the tasks of the company’s engineers.

Method number 6. Increasing sales by mailing to potential customer databases

Formation of databases of people who expressed interest in our project, even if the contract was never concluded. We always ensure that our potential client databases are up-to-date, regularly adding and updating data.

Method No. 7. Development of a selling website

For modern business, the relevance of a website is difficult to overestimate; it is becoming the main means and channel for attracting customers and increasing significant sales. In order to increase the impact of the site, important importance is given to three main elements - the main page with high-quality selling text, a form for filling out an application, a form for collecting contacts of potential clients.

Tips to help make your website more effective

Simplify the structure: avoid piling up different types of information on one page. It is very important for clients to understand where and what to look for.
We prepare 2 separate menus - a general menu (for navigating the site) and a catalog of available solutions, which are divided by business segments (in particular, “Expert. Restaurant chain”, “Expert. Club”, etc.).
You should publish information (preferably infographics) about the benefits of your offers in a prominent place on the main page. In particular, it is possible to reflect a visual comparison of losses in the absence of proper automation and the possible improvement in indicators, which its presence will contribute to.
You can place a link to customer reviews on the home page. A visitor who clicks on them goes to the reviews section.
It is also necessary to provide space on the main page for a banner that advertises the company’s current special offers, etc.
A call back button should be placed in the upper left corner of each page.

Method No. 8. Increased sales volume thanks to the right choice of promotion channels

We always recommend using advertising campaigns in Yandex.Direct, advertising banners, and articles about plots for sale on the main portals of your region. So, for example, a company selling land plots first briefly advertised a special offer, after which eight plots were sold.

In addition, television advertising is still quite effective today. In particular, thanks to the launch of the reality show “Construction. “Your home in 3 months,” the company was able to achieve brand recognition in a short time.

Method number 9. Organization of work of sales managers

To increase sales volume, we decided to change the general sales scheme. Now the manager had to demonstrate the site to a potential buyer, first bringing him to the office. And it was up to the head of the sales department to successfully complete the deal.

This principle is beneficial for each party - the manager had additional time to attract clients, while the boss achieved a larger volume of concluded transactions, since he did not have to spend time inspecting sites.

We have also approved a standard sales scheme:

Call or request to inspect the property;
The manager calls to clarify plans for inspecting the site;
The buyer visits the site being sold;
Meeting between the buyer and the head of the sales department in our office;
Registration of the contract.

During the period March-December, we managed to sell a total of more than 100 plots of the first stage. We managed to increase sales five times compared to the same period last year. The company was able to improve its reputation, with better promotion of the following projects and related areas.

Method No. 10. Improving the quality of your services

The company initially conducted a survey of its customers. This principle allowed us to determine the preferred course of action. First of all, we started improving the quality of services, training employees, and purchasing new equipment. Clients are provided with a number of bonus services and additional gifts for the holidays.

Method No. 11. Free coupons for your first lesson

In addition to fitness services, we have launched two new business areas - health tourism and SPA programs.

Results: we achieved a 30% increase in income, receiving awards in prestigious competitions, attracting many corporate clients and sports teams. The media published news of our competitions - for additional advertising of their center.

But, if customers are not satisfied with the quality of the product, then it’s time to conduct a survey among customers to find out their wishes. If there are wishes that are affordable and can bring profit to the company, they need to be applied to other clients.

An additional reason for refusal to purchase is the lack of activity of the supplier. For many buyers, it is important to have regular contact, in particular through telephone calls, friendly visits and postal notices.

If the consumer does not receive this, he thinks that the supplier is no longer interested in him and begins to look for new business contacts. Therefore, an entrepreneur must anticipate such sentiments of his customers and meet their needs.

There are many consumers who have not yet tried your products. At the same time, their interests may correspond to the interests of existing clients. Increasing sales volume, possibly by attracting new customers. Of course, this will require a slight modernization in the customer relationship system, which will ensure that the needs of attracted consumers are met. Such tactics will significantly reduce financial losses associated with an increase in business activity.

To identify the qualitative characteristics of a certain group of consumers, information sources such as statistical collections, marketing research or trade association reports are suitable. Surveying different groups will help you understand that new customers will not necessarily be identical to existing customers. As a result, it will be necessary to establish the main differences when choosing the products to be purchased.

Customer recommendations can complement the overall picture. After identifying the main groups of potential buyers, you can do:

making a list buyers with the designation of their basic characteristics;
mailing“Direct requests” by E-mail with a commercial offer and a brief description of the company;
implementation of the action“Cold appeals”, which consists of direct contact with potential clients in order to determine their purchasing preferences;
advertising campaign in newspapers, magazines, radio, television or in;
popularization of the method“Personal recommendations” from existing clients;
using the technique“Stimulating mixture”, which consists of a set of different activities that provide consumers with competitive advantages of products.

Separately, we need to discuss the sale of goods in the “” mode. It is a universal solution for many companies that seek to increase profitability and reduce operating costs.

For the successful sale of products, the main role is played by cost, quality, product range and availability in the warehouse. An additional factor is timely delivery.

Advantages of online trading:

significant cost reduction;
automated order processing process;
the possibility of girth is enormous;
24-hour operation;
the ability to instantly receive payment;
no need to walk around;
continuous improvement of the structure of the products offered;
automatic generation of product catalogs.

Increasing the intensity of purchases from existing customers

The increase in sales occurs due to increased purchase volumes by existing customers. Because attracting new consumers is much more difficult. Therefore, it will be useful to study the “Pareto Principle”. According to this principle, about 80% of success is achieved through 20% of the effort spent. Thus, it is quite natural to apply this rule to the issue of making a profit and increasing sales volumes of products. An overview of sales using the Pareto Principle includes:

sales volume per customer;
income from each consumer;
sales volumes for a particular type of product;
generalized profitability of products sold;
total sales and income for each individual distribution channel.

Taking into account the characteristics of each individual group of buyers and the results of the analysis, it is possible to approximately determine the profitability of consumers. Typically, only a small portion of buyers provide the bulk of the profit. It often happens that large customers may not be profitable enough for a company.

Concentrating on the most profitable customers will free up significant resources for production development.

The technology for identifying the target client involves:

strategy definition;
conducting market segmentation;
market data collection;
development of primary hypotheses and analysis of accumulated information (on consumers);
division of consumer segments;
development of primary hypotheses and analysis of accumulated information (on clients);
division of client segments;
overview of the attractiveness of each individual sector;
identifying criteria for selecting target clients;
extracting the target buyer;
development of methods aimed at improving the quality of proposals and achieving the break-even point.

Building relationships with clients

The basic rules for an effective customer service program include:

1. Identification of the most profitable clients with their further distribution into groups. Primary goal:

prioritization during maintenance;
analysis of the characteristics of key buyer groups.

2. Compiling a register of internal and external customers.

3. Determining the required level of customer service for each group. Primary goal:

defining basic requirements for quality of service;
identifying requirements regarding the accuracy of order fulfillment;
establishing the level of speed of response to the buyer’s request;
determining the degree of customer satisfaction with service conditions;
identifying the need to train staff and improve their behavior with customers;
formation of compliance during conflict resolution.

4. Establishing the degree of satisfaction of company employees with their work.

To increase product sales, you need to focus on quality customer service. Service standards should be developed. You can start by conducting an employee survey. The standards developed should be concise, clearly stated and achievable.

The basic rules for customer service should also contain individual requirements for employees. The main condition is the provision of personalized services and addressing the client exclusively by name and patronymic. Staff must be trained in friendly communication techniques, as well as the ability to resolve any complaints from customers.

Complaint handling must be carried out as thoroughly as possible to maintain customer goodwill and introduce necessary changes that will improve customer service. List of useful activities:

attracting employees and customers to co-create service standards through surveys;
documentation of standards service;
carrying out explanatory work among full-time employees;
getting staff support regarding the feasibility of using the developed service model;
building a corporate culture relations with customers, excluding any deviations from approved standards;
making regular adjustments standards due to changing conditions;
introduction of a behavioral assessment system personnel, allowing you to monitor compliance with the developed customer service model;
employee incentives for improving customer service.

To monitor the quality of staff work, you can use the Mystery Shopping technique. The main purpose of using such technology is to document all stages of sales. Using a voice recorder, you can see how things really are in the company. For additional control of the quality of work, you can use CCTV cameras. All these methods will allow you to monitor staff incompetence and eliminate any reasons that interfere with increasing sales volumes. Main problems in sales:

shortage of qualified personnel;
lack of strategic planning for sales managers;
lack of an evaluation system that allows tracking the personal contribution of sellers;
lack of experienced managers in sales departments;
lack of motivation among sales managers;
lack of customer focus;
lack of effective training methods for training sales managers;
lack of a reserve search system.

Companies need to understand that even when working with commercial organizations, they are interacting with people. Sales of goods are not made to a soulless organization, but to an ordinary person who may be susceptible to emotions and guided by the characteristics of his character. The preferences of a living person do not always lend themselves to strict logic, but in any case, the company must do everything possible for the sake of the client.

Of course, the time spent, the competence of the staff and the dedication to customers are worth a lot. If the company manages to convince the buyer that it perfectly understands his interests and is ready to serve them, then the problem of paying for orders will disappear by itself. Satisfied clients will zealously defend the interests of the company in their company and will not allow themselves to miss such a partner. But how to win customer loyalty? Purchases are made where:

the buyer finds everything he needs;
value clients and are always happy to see them;
can listen and understand the essence of the problem;
respond to wishes.

Any product sold has three components: a material component, a method of service, and additional service. After-sales service is as important as the product. When a buyer regularly receives all three components, then he becomes loyal. Thus, loyalty can be qualified as high customer satisfaction, which leads to devotion to the company. What gives customer loyalty:

systemic and forecasted sales;
increasing company value;
a criterion that determines that the level of service corresponds to the price;
significant savings in searching for other clients.

Features of loyal customers:

loyalty and defense of company policies;
participation in the acquisition of new goods;
attracting new customers;
implementation of an advertising campaign;
ignoring competing organizations;
minimal sensitivity to price;
tolerance to one-off episodes of deterioration in quality;
disposition to participate in surveys;
willingness to make proposals for product modernization;
Moderation of additional service requirements.

The European Trade Institute conducted studies that showed that German companies spend 8 times more money on attracting new customers than on motivating repeat purchases.

An increase in the number of loyal customers by 5% can lead to an increase in sales volumes of up to 100%. A satisfied buyer informs at least 5 acquaintances about a profitable purchase, and a dissatisfied buyer will notify 10 people.

Main reasons for loyalty:

period of cooperation;
level of satisfaction;
experience using the product;
making repeat purchases without being stimulated by falling prices;
personal contacts;
positive experience in overcoming conflicts.

Buyer classification:

Adherent- a client who regularly makes purchases and actively advertises the company.
Loyal Subject- a consumer who systematically makes purchases, without further advertising of products.
Defector- a client who regularly makes purchases both from the company and from competitors
Terrorist- a buyer who is willing to remain loyal in exchange for certain dividends.
Mercenary- a client who allows himself to be outbid.
Hostage- a buyer who has no choice.

Customer retention programs (loyalty)

To understand how to retain a client, you need to know the main reasons why he might leave. Reasons for customers leaving:

One unsuccessful conversation with a company employee can ruin many years of cooperation and prevent an increase in sales. Emotional factors often outweigh rational ones. As a result, almost 70% of company losses occur due to communication problems.

To increase Customer satisfaction needs:

train staff to deal with problem clients;
make it easier for buyers to access the company;
monitor compliance with service quality standards;
study customer needs;
use the potential of a success story;
research customer satisfaction.

Just 10–20 years ago the emphasis was on improving product quality, but today many companies have reached such a level of quality in their products that competition occurs at the service level. If it is necessary to increase sales volume, there is a need to use completely different technologies. To retain customers:

preference models are developed;
channels of interaction with the company are clarified;
communication is ensured between employees of different departments and the buyer;
changes in customer purchasing behavior are monitored;
the life values of buyers are studied;
Special offers are being developed to increase sales.

Service automation implies:

use of data that maximally reveals information about the client, the problem that has arisen and the buyer’s preferences;
automatic control of all applications for timing and quality of service;
availability of an information base on current problems and solutions;
automatic control of service agreements;
ways to manage customer requests.

American Express conducted research that showed that a high level of service is critical for 60% of consumers when choosing where to shop. As a result, they will be willing to overpay up to 7%. However, only 40% of companies work to receive feedback from customers. Common loyalty programs that provoke an increase in sales:

Loyalty card.
Cumulative discounts, bonuses.
Special terms of service.
Prizes, lotteries, competitions.
Gaining a unique experience.
Charity.
Club formations.
Access to closed resources.
After-sales service.
Creation of coalition loyalty programs.
Exchange of old goods for new ones.
Client training.
24/7 technical support.

Recently, due to the crisis, as a business consultant, many clients have been asking me questions related to increasing sales. Businessmen have almost no questions related to the search and purchase of materials or finished goods, as well as the organization of production. It's no secret that today half of Russia is engaged in resale, and the other half dreams of doing it. That’s why, first of all, everyone is concerned with the question: how to increase sales.

In addition, when I lead projects related to the organization of an accounting system, the implementation of CRM and other software products, I also encounter these issues. While working on the project, I constantly communicate with business owners, managers, and heads of sales departments. I get a lot of information about how different companies sell, how different groups of products are sold, what sales methods are used in this or that case, what ideas lead to success, and what decisions turn out to be unsuccessful.

When I was faced with the problem of increasing sales, I realized that these issues were poorly covered on the Internet. There are no normal sales materials. On the Internet you will find either fantasies on the topic: how to increase sales in 14 days, sales scripts and other similar information, or various books on marketing and pricing, but they are not relevant for small and medium-sized businesses (how can a book on how to increase your Coca-Cola sales?)

In this article, I decided to talk about tools that lead to increased sales. My advice is practical in nature and requires organizational rather than financial costs, which is very important when revenue is falling.

I will talk, first of all, about increasing the efficiency of working with the existing client base. Finding and attracting new clients, promoting the company on the Internet and offline will be the topic of a separate article.

Some of the solutions discussed below will work in a comprehensive manner, i.e. will not only increase sales, but also attract new customers. But still this will not be the main focus of the article. Here and now I will talk about increasing sales volumes.

All the ideas and solutions that I will talk about have been tested in practice by my clients. However, I recommend that you take any advice carefully and implement it based on the realities of your business. Some solutions are intended only for manufacturers, others are suitable for almost everyone.

Increase the value of the product.

If your company produces a product, then one of the solutions that has a positive effect on sales is to increase the value of the product. In many cases, you can change the appearance of a product, such as its packaging, to increase sales. And, as a result, the value of the product in the eyes of buyers will change.

Example of solution implementation

My client's company produced cheap clothes that were sold in markets and cheap shops. As a result of the analysis, it turned out that the main competitor of this company was China. The goods that the company produced were perceived by consumers as Chinese, and the price of the products was slightly higher.

It is clear that clothes created in Russia cannot compete with Chinese ones in price. Even the fact that the quality of the products was higher did not help in the current situation, since the nondescript appearance of the product, together with the relatively high price, reduced the interest of buyers.

We analyzed the product and its perception by customers. We consulted with dealers and sellers. And they came to a rather risky decision: they changed the packaging to a better and more modern one.

What we did:

We changed the logo, fonts, and design. We made it bright, stylish, attractive.
We chose a different material. Instead of cheap plastic bags, we used high-quality cardboard packaging.
The packaging contains as much information as possible about the product.

As a result, the product, in the perception of buyers, “fell out” of its usual price category. Thanks to the packaging, it began to be perceived by customers as more expensive and of higher quality. At the same time, at first the price was not raised at all, and the real cost increased quite a bit.

Thus, in the perception of buyers, the product has “gone” from the niche filled with Chinese goods, and the real price has not increased much, since the cost of cardboard packaging per unit of product turned out to be very small. Of course, we had to tinker with the introduction of new packaging; in production, any changes are associated with certain difficulties. But that's a different story.

But thanks to the new packaging, there was a transition of the product from one value category to another in the perception of buyers, which became a real “springboard” to increasing sales volumes.

High-quality work with the order.

For some reason, many companies still neglect to process customer orders. Of course, certain actions are being taken. The manager accepts the order, processes it, issues an invoice, then ships it, etc. At the same time, most small and medium-sized businesses, and let me remind you, I work specifically with these segments, do not work to order.

Sales departments of companies are somewhat reminiscent of stalls: they sell what they have in stock. And if the requested product is not in stock, the manager does not even offer to place the required item “to order”. Most often, this happens because the system does not have the necessary tools, and the manager simply does not know how to place such an order.

It would seem that the solution lies on the surface. Don't refuse customers! Offer not only analogues, but also “custom-made” design of the desired product. Those. your client orders everything he needs. And the manager accepts the order and notifies the buyer about the delivery time, taking into account the deadline for receiving items missing from the remaining balances. All companies that implemented this system received a noticeable increase in sales.

In this case, I’m not talking about online stores that operate without a warehouse at all, i.e. only to order, regardless of whether they inform their customers of this fact or not. I'm talking about companies that have their own warehouse, but at the same time they can order goods from a supplier.

What is the problem with implementing such a work scheme? The problem is that companies do not know how to technically implement it. Now I will give an example of how such a scheme was implemented with my client, who is engaged in the wholesale sale of ceramic tiles.

All products are divided into two groups:

The first is goods in our own warehouse, i.e. those goods that you yourself ordered from your main supplier.
The second is “foreign” goods, i.e. those that can be quickly ordered from another supplier or competitor. This “Alien” attribute was filled in in the product card to indicate goods ordered from competitors. The product card also indicated the supplier (competitor) from whom this product was purchased.

In this company, which sells imported goods with a long delivery period (about two months or more pass from the moment of order to receipt at the warehouse), a special system was developed when, when accepting a buyer’s order, if there is no product in the warehouse, but until the next delivery another month, the manager can find out whether a competitor has this product and order it. The manager includes this product (Someone else's product) in the customer order with the designation To order (To be supplied), and when the customer order is posted in the system, an order/orders are automatically created for the supplier/suppliers (data about suppliers is taken from the product card).

As a result, the client receives all the assortment he needs and continues to actively work with your company. He will not go to a competitor in search of the position he needs, because you have everything he needs.

This approach significantly increases sales volume, while in many cases profits increase slightly, because you buy goods in small quantities, perhaps even from competitors, and therefore sell some items with almost no markup. What's the point?

You gain customer loyalty. Your customer does not leave, fills out an order with you, and buys other goods along with the unprofitable “alien” position. And you will notice an increase in profits from such a work scheme at the end of the month, quarter or any other reporting period. By increasing customer loyalty, sales volume and profits will increase significantly.

Sale of related (additional) services.

Many companies sell only products without any additional services. But often it is the service that helps customers make a choice in your favor.

For example, among my clients there was a company specializing in the sale of cable products. At some point in time, they decided to introduce an additional service - cable laying. Those. In addition to the delivery available to everyone, they began to offer on-site cable cutting, as well as installation at the customer’s location. As a result, not only the profit increased due to payment for additional services, but also the volume of sales of goods.

What is the reason for this increase in sales? Some customers of such products consider it a big plus to be able to order everything in one place: both goods and services. They don’t want to waste time searching for contractors and cannot install (lay) the cable they need on their own. Those. in this case, clients reason like private buyers: “if I bought a sofa, then I need to assemble it right away, albeit for an additional fee.”

For some reason, many companies neglect this opportunity to increase customer loyalty, the attractiveness of products for new customers, as well as profits. In fact, selling services is a great method to increase sales. Don't forget about him.

Make the terms of cooperation easier.

Many companies work with their clients under very strict conditions. This is especially common among those who have been working in the market for a long time, often since the 90s, working with imported goods, with products that have no analogues on the market, and so on.

For example, I had a client who sold imported professional cosmetics for beauty salons. Despite the fact that one jar of the product can cost from 17 euros and more, in order for the dealer to receive a 5% discount it was necessary to complete a purchase volume of 2500 euros, and to get a 20% discount - 7500 euros. In addition, dealers took it upon themselves to buy and distribute magazines that no one wanted. There were other requirements, often inconvenient and unfriendly towards clients.

What has been done to increase sales in this company?

The company has reduced the threshold for receiving a discount. They did not make a one-time total discount or promotion; they made the conditions more lenient, which ensured not only sales growth, but also customer loyalty.

Those. To increase sales, you can simply soften the terms of cooperation. This is very important for your clients. The market is constantly evolving, competition is growing in all areas. Even if you are selling something exclusive and special, sooner or later some analogues will appear on the market.

For example, the client discussed above sells products for beauty industry professionals. The end consumers of his products were and remain private craftsmen and beauty salons. On the one hand, professionals get used to the quality and features of a certain brand. On the other hand, if the price becomes too high or an analogue appears that is more profitable to buy, they may reconsider their preferences.

Typically, clients who do not want to soften the terms of cooperation give the following arguments:

We sell the best product, we are the best and they will work with us on any terms.
If conditions soften, we may lose margin, resulting in lower profits.

But! It is better to lose 10 kopecks on a discount, but earn 2 rubles, than not to lose these 10 kopecks, but not earn anything.

Synergy.

Synergy is the summative effect of the interaction of two or more factors, characterized by the fact that their effect significantly exceeds the effect of each individual component in the form of their simple sum. Wikipedia

What is synergy from a business perspective and what do I mean when I talk about synergy?

Many companies that work simultaneously in several directions, for example, sell goods and services that are in no way related to each other or are only weakly related, completely separate these directions, even to the point of creating different websites and different legal entities for each direction. Also, the sales departments do not interact with each other in any way, which is a noticeable disadvantage. What can be done in this case? Unite different areas under one brand.

Let me again give the example of a company whose activities are related to beauty salons. This example is very convenient and visual, and therefore I often use it. This company has beauty salons, a training department, and a wholesale sales department for hair care products. And they all work independently of each other.

Yes, they work under the same brand, but in essence they are not united: they have different unlinked sites, the culture or business process for transmitting information about the company as a whole and its divisions is not developed. It is almost impossible for a salon client to find out that the company has training, just as a wholesale buyer will only be able to find out about the salon and its services by accident.

What have I done for this company?

The first and simplest thing was to combine all three divisions into one website. Those. a person who visits the site sees all three areas of the company’s activities. This increases credibility, the level of trust, and also informs people about certain additional capabilities of the company.

If, for example, a specialist comes to the site in search of a product, then in addition to the assortment, he will learn that he can always get training in working with these products, as well as evaluate their effectiveness by visiting a beauty salon. Similarly, combining directions has a positive effect in other cases.

Moreover, such an association increases the level of trust in the company as a whole, since people see that the company is large, reputable, engaged in several areas, etc. Also, specialists from different fields began to recommend each other. Thus, a synergistic effect manifested itself, i.e. The joint work of different areas led to increased efficiency in each of them.

Start selling through the website.

Until now, many wholesalers and product manufacturers do not use their websites for direct sales. As a result, some potential customers are lost.

Even if you beautifully presented all your products on the site, but there is no price next to the product, the person who found you through search engines or followed an advertising link will most likely leave without making a purchase or calling. There is a rule: a product without a price is not a product. As long as a person does not see the cost figure, he can think whatever he wants. But not everyone agrees to call or send requests, especially since nearby (in the search engine on adjacent lines) there are most likely competitors’ websites with prices and convenient order buttons.

Now I’m not talking about sales to the end consumer, where the need for an online store is obvious, I’m talking about sales in the B2B sector, where representatives of the commercial sector are looking for materials and goods for their own business, and therefore look mainly at the websites of manufacturers, dealers, regional representatives, etc. d.

What do they write on such sites? “Call us during business hours,” “Send a request for a price list.” But a visitor may end up on the site after hours or on a weekend. Not everyone leaves a request and not always. In general, many people, in the absence of a price, subconsciously begin to suspect that they may be deceived here, and therefore try not to leave any contact information. Or they suspect that the price is not shown on the website because it is too high. In any case, potential buyers leave the site without making a purchase or application. Therefore, show your prices!

The question often arises: if we, distributors, start selling products through the website to clients of our own dealers, won’t this interfere with business?

No, it will not. First, you, as distributors, can set a single price. The main thing is that it is not lower than that of your dealers. And secondly, you can add a page with a list of your dealers so that the client can decide whether to buy from you and wait for delivery from another city or choose a supplier in his region.

This solution will even help increase sales. For example, if a buyer from Murmansk comes to your website, he will in any case not order the product from you in Moscow; the product will have to wait too long and delivery will be expensive. Moreover, if he finds on your website contacts of a dealer in his region, then the sale will take place, albeit from the dealer, who, in turn, will order more goods from you.

If you promptly inform your partners that you are posting prices on the site, and also promptly inform them of any changes in pricing policy, this will not harm their business in any way. And if you invite your partners to post their data on your website, they will gratefully provide all the necessary information.

Don’t forget that your customers and partners are, most often, small regional companies that have little presence on the Internet. And your website, most likely, occupies a leading position in search results, since you are a distributor. So, such interaction will benefit both you and your partners.

Post prices on the website, develop your project, and based on the brand name, it should be among the first in search results. Make sales through the website. And post the contacts of your partners. As a result, the number of sales will increase significantly, customers will find your website and order goods either from you or from your dealers.

Another common concern is that dealers will be against you displaying prices because buyers on your site may, after viewing the prices, express a desire to become a dealer themselves.

What can we say here? These concerns are dealers' problems. For you, such interest from new potential partners is only a plus. Any business must grow and develop. And the potential threat that you can change a dealer in a particular region will stimulate your dealers to work better, develop more actively, and sell more. The dealer will not go to another supplier, even if you have a buyer, and he has a competitor in his own region. And your business must develop.

Discounts for volume of production.

Many companies assign discounts for one or another order, announce various promotions, but very rarely use discounts on product volume. Or they set a very high, one might say, unattainable threshold for receiving such a discount.

Most likely, you yourself know this marketing law: with each unit of product purchased, the customer’s desire to buy decreases.

Accordingly, the more he has already bought, the less desire he has to buy more. And a volume discount helps overcome this psychological factor.

And here again objections arise: due to discounts, part of the profit from the sale of goods is lost.

Let me remind you: in a falling market, losing a small part of the profit from the sale of a unit of goods is not the biggest loss. It is much worse if this product ceases to be sold at all or its sales volumes decrease.

And the volume discount encourages the buyer to order more. As a result, you will fully compensate for the loss of profit due to a reduction in price by increasing sales volume and will receive a loyal customer, which from the point of view of business development is much more important than short-term profit.

A smart move is to hire a “star”.

Today, sales managers are in great demand. The number of vacancies in this specialty is huge. At the same time, very often businessmen offer their future managers a very low salary and a more than modest percentage of sales. Who will they be able to hire under such conditions? How successful will this specialist be?

In a falling market, when sales skills are incredibly highly valued, companies are trying to save money on sales managers.

This is such a paradox. And the reason for this paradox is simple greed. But do you understand that momentary greed does no good to anyone?

It is worth understanding that in most successful companies, a significant part of sales rests on one or two specialists who know everything about the products, know how to find a common language with any client, and are able to sell at a “star” level. But these specialists also cost much more than a regular sales manager.

Don’t skimp, hire such a “star” for your sales department. Believe me, the quality and sales volumes will recoup all your costs for purchasing the “star” a hundredfold. You should not bet on a large number of cheap and weak sellers. It is better to spend the same funds on one really cool manager.

Yes, the “star” will have to pay a lot more. Yes, you will have to check its level in practice. Yes, there is always a risk of running into a scammer. But all these costs and difficulties will be fully paid off when a real “star” appears in your sales department.

If you study the work of companies that have a strong sales department, then in almost every case you will see one or two cool “star” level specialists in this department. These “stars” can always suggest a good solution to their colleagues; they pull others along with them, help and teach along the way. As a result, the entire sales department works much more efficiently.

As Elon Musk said: “Quantity never compensates for talent, and two people who don’t know something are no better than one.”

Therefore, you should not buy a lot of cheap employees, look for talent!

Accepting money through cards, online wallets, etc.

Oddly enough, such an obvious advantage as expanding the list of payment methods is overlooked by most businessmen. I would like to remind all businessmen: we live in the 21st century, and cash along with bank or postal transfer are far from the most popular payment methods.

Today, Internet wallets, credit and debit cards are actively used in all areas, and in some cases even mobile phone accounts act as a source of funds. And the more payment methods available to your customers, the higher the likelihood that the purchase will go through.

Often, when refusing to connect payment via the Internet, the argument is heard: “Why should I lose money (3-4%) when cashing out funds?”

It's simple: in cases where a person, for one reason or another, cannot pay your invoice within the period of time specified by you, does not consider it possible to spend time and effort on finding a form of payment convenient for you, or does not want to pay for the goods in cash, the sale will not take place at all. And then you will lose not 3-4%, but all possible profit from the sale.

For example, when placing an order through a website or by telephone, some customers strive to pay immediately simply to be sure that the goods are reserved and will be delivered within the specified time frame. And if you cannot offer him a suitable payment method, the customer may go to your competitors.

One more example. Small companies often do not have terminals for paying with bank cards or card accounts for direct transfers from card to card. They work as they did many years ago: they issue invoices that can be paid at the bank, or offer to pay for goods in cash.

I personally observed the work of one of these companies in the process. And what I noticed: some of the customers came to them with credit cards. They were all sent to an ATM located nearby. But not everyone returned. The reason turned out to be that when cashing out funds, these clients lost 2% of the amount. Their discount did not exceed 5%. And paying in cash presupposed the absence of documents. As a result, the discount no longer looked so attractive, and buyers left to look for a more profitable solution.

Accept as many types of payment as possible! Your clients should feel comfortable. Remember: it is better to lose 2 rubles by cashing out 100 rubles than not to make any profit at all. Yes, you won’t lose anything, but you won’t earn anything either.

Increased conversion.

In this case, conversion is the conversion of your visitors in the office, store or website into buyers, i.e. to the people who placed the order and made the payment. And if you have a question about increasing sales, then you also need to increase conversion.

Have you ever wondered why so many people show interest in your company, read information on your website, ask questions in the office or store, and leave without purchasing?

But in addition to the objective reasons for this behavior, there are also your mistakes and shortcomings. For example, lack of prices on the website. I have already talked about this above. There are other mistakes that negatively affect the conversion of a visitor into a buyer.

I had a client who collected a record number of such errors on his website:

He had as many as 7 phone numbers on his website. And none of them were multi-channel. Therefore, all of them could be busy at one time or another. As a result, some potential clients left simply because they couldn’t get through.
Some goods did not have a final price. Those. the price for the product item was indicated, but it was constantly changing, and on the website it was written: “due to fluctuations in the euro exchange rate, this price may not be relevant, call and check the cost of the product.” From my point of view, there is nothing worse than telling a client that we are selling you something unknown for what money, and let’s call us back. To increase sales, it is very important to sell at the price that was first announced to the client. Otherwise, the level of trust in you will fall catastrophically, followed by sales.
Long application processing period. In some cases, from the call to the answer to the client - when and how much he will receive the ordered goods - it could take up to 2 weeks! Naturally, during this time some clients were also lost.

What did I do to increase conversions for this client?

First of all, I introduced electronic document management. Now, when an application was received from the site, it immediately entered the general database, and a responsible manager was appointed for it, who was obliged to work with this application in a short time.

I also improved the quality of interaction between employees. There were many moments here, a lot had to be changed, in fact, the entire structure of the company underwent changes to one degree or another. I also put things in order on the site, helped correct errors and make it easier for customers to access information.

As a result of the transformations, the number of requests from the site, and also, more importantly, the number of purchases that took place, increased significantly with the same number of visitors to the web resource.

I recommend that you analyze and identify points where your client may fail: a “falling off phone”, poorly speaking managers, an inconvenient or uninformative website, high prices or strict terms of cooperation. Carefully work through these points, think over the loyalty program - and then the conversion will certainly increase.

Use all channels of interaction with customers.

Quite often, companies use only some of the possible channels to interact with customers and find new clients. For example, some work only through the website, others use ads in Yandex.Direct and nothing more, others work at exhibitions, and others use SMS newsletters. In fact, they, like the drunk man in the old and well-known joke, search not where they lost, but where there is light, i.e. They use only those methods that once showed good results.

Use all the channels available to you. Inform your customers that you are running this or that promotion, prices have been reduced, new products have appeared, and anything else that you consider important. Apply all methods at once to do this. Let it be news on the website, email and SMS mailings, leaflets and letters on paper, advertisements on the Internet, meetings, seminars, calls to clients, etc. Do not neglect any of the possible channels of information. This way you will be able to reach the maximum audience.

Take orders online.

When I talk about the need to accept orders online, I mean the B2B business segment. Until now, many companies ignore the opportunity to receive orders via the Internet. At best, some forms in Excel and email are used. And most often, all orders are accepted by telephone.

The arguments of those who refuse to work online are quite similar: “they won’t understand, they won’t want to study, we’ll just waste time,” etc.

In fact, today Russia ranks 6th in terms of availability and prevalence of broadband Internet in the world. Most of your clients now have very good Internet. And the ability to use online order forms is also very well developed. Therefore, do not underestimate your customers. Those of them who do not like the online order option will say so themselves and can always continue to dictate orders over the phone in the traditional way. And the rest will be able to submit an application online, at a convenient time, calmly and thoughtfully. At the same time, processing applications from your managers will take a minimum of time, which will allow you to devote more effort and time to new clients.

Moreover, the ability to work online increases the loyalty of your customers. They will see your balances and the entire list of your goods. They will be able to order more and view the full list of products. While when ordering by phone, much depends on the manager, on his knowledge of the assortment, on whether he will be able to offer the goods the client needs. And when ordering online, the client himself sees everything that you can offer him, sees prices, the cost of the order. Don’t deprive your clients of such a convenient tool, check it in practice: introducing online ordering very often increases the average bill.

Always be available.

Your availability at any time is an important factor in increasing sales. I had clients whose phone was periodically unavailable, who did not always respond promptly by email, in some cases even the website was turned off for a while.
Your availability is a guarantee that you will not miss a single order. May you not have missed calls on your phone or unanswered letters from customers in your mailbox.

Another important point: sort your mail wisely! For example, my client had only one mailbox, which received all mail without exception. The post office was in charge of the secretary. And she simply did not understand anything about the range of goods; applications could lie in the box for several days without a response.

After I studied the situation, we transferred access to the mail to the head of the sales department and turned off spam filters. On the one hand, the amount of spam in mail has increased slightly. On the other hand, the sales department can always recognize a letter from a customer or potential partner and promptly respond to it. And disabling the spam filter ensures that no important email ends up in the Spam folder.

Another client, whom I already cited as an example, had about 7 phone numbers listed on the website. It looked something like this:

Wholesale sales department:
Tel.: +7 (495) xxx-xx-xx
Tel.: +7 (495) xxx-xx-01/02/03/04/05
mob. +7 (495) xxx-xx-xx (open on Saturdays)

All these numbers are working numbers of managers who constantly serve wholesale clients, that is, at some point in time all the numbers can be occupied. And which of us will dial all 7 numbers without getting through to two, maximum three numbers?

Always be available and be sure to correctly set up your email, phone and other options for customers to access you! Don't miss anything important.

Remove insider.

Today, many companies exist at the expense of another, larger company for which an insider works. Those. There is an employee in the sales department who regularly “leaks” orders and clients from another company. This usually happens unnoticed; an insider can be very difficult to catch, and even more difficult to blame.

For example, his reaction to a client’s call could be: “At the moment, unfortunately, we don’t have the product you need, but you can contact this company, they are our partners, and they definitely have everything.”

Another option is that the insider names a deliberately high price, or simply reports that this product is not in stock, despite the fact that it is in stock. At the same time, the manager remains with the customer’s contact information: his mobile phone, which was displayed on the screen, other information received during this call or earlier.

All this information is transferred to a competitor, who calls the client and offers him exactly what he needs, and is always ready to offer terms of cooperation that are more attractive than your company. Naturally, the client makes a purchase from where they called him and offered him the necessary goods at a favorable price. As a result, you invested in promotion, worked with the client, spent time and effort, while your competitor receives the profit.

How to identify an insider?

The simplest method is to ask friends you trust to call them themselves from a number unfamiliar to your employees and make a test order. You will have to call every manager. And determine after which of your calls your competitors called you back.
If you have phone calls recorded, listen to recordings of conversations between different employees. But as a rule, when telephone conversations are recorded, the insider acts very carefully.
Guard your database. Carefully distribute customer data among your managers and limit their access to information that they do not need in their work.

It is possible that there is no insider in your company, and your sales problems lie in a completely different area. On the one hand, you should not organize massive and regular checks with the persistence of a paranoid person. This will only encourage previously loyal employees to quit and, perhaps, become insiders. But you shouldn’t lose your vigilance either.

Conclusion.

In conclusion, I would like to say what you should never do: you should not have sales of goods. What is beneficial in the retail sector is seen as a weakness in the B2B sector.

The retail client needs to consume now, so any promotions and sales attract his favorable attention. And the wholesale buyer is counting on the long term. And stability is more important to this client than immediate benefit. Having learned that you are selling out goods or giving inadequate discounts, the client comes to the conclusion that your company is “drowning” and will soon leave the market, accordingly, long-term cooperation with it will not work.

The situation turns out to be the opposite: you want to sell more through discounts and attract new customers, but as a result, on the contrary, you scare away your regular customers, who bring you the main income. The announcement of a total price cut is seen as throwing out a white flag.

In this article, I have, of course, not listed all the ways to increase sales. Here I have chosen the most common and simplest ones, which do not require special expenses. These methods are more organizational than financial. Therefore, they can be implemented in conditions of a financial crisis and falling sales.

What business owner doesn't dream of increasing sales? Whatever you have - a manufacturing plant, a service, or an online store, you want to sell more. This way you will earn more and there will be opportunities to expand your business. You will be able to increase your staff, open new sales points, new workshops.

In practice, however, not everything is always so rosy. The company may encounter unexpected difficulties. After all, when sales increase, more products need to be produced. As a result, the enterprise simply does not have time to produce enough. Yes, we need to expand, but it takes some time. As a result, they either work in two shifts, or have to refuse orders, or the quality of the goods decreases, since they have to produce a lot of it and quickly.

An online store may encounter insufficient quantities of goods in stock, and as a result, it needs to increase purchases.

As a result, it turns out that an increase in sales leads to an increase in costs: salaries, logistics, purchase of raw materials and new equipment. Therefore, if you are focused on increasing sales, you need to be prepared for the possible chaos and changes that any growth entails.

Main factors influencing sales

Three groups of factors influence the growth or decline of sales:

External: seasonality, competition, laws, general market dynamics, customer purchasing power.
Domestic: advertising, price, product, discounts, promotions, loyalty programs, etc.
Personal contribution- this is everything that every sales manager brings: his ability to handle calls, present a product or service.

You cannot influence external factors in any way. It doesn't depend on you what legislation will be passed or whether your customers will be able to buy more. But two other groups of factors depend entirely on you.

This is how you can make a good product that will be in demand.It is within your power to create a well-thought-out advertising campaign to attract the attention of even more people to your product. INYou can hire and train sales managers, develop sales scripts that will help them sell even more of your products or services.

To increase sales, you must direct your actions in several directions:

increase the volume and quality of advertising;
increase the conversion from an interested person to a buyer (for a website these are applications and leads);
increase the frequency of purchases by regular customers and the customer’s lifespan;

We will tell you what exactly you can do and what tactics to use.

Important: tactics by themselves will not bear any fruit if they do not become part of a well-thought-out strategy for your promotion in the market, and the development of the company as a whole.

50 ways to increase sales of goods and services

For convenience, we have divided them into several categories.

Marketing

1. Develop a promotion strategy. Very often you can find entrepreneurs who rush between different tools, not knowing which one to use. Develop a clear strategy - what you want to achieve and how it can be done. Then the tools will select themselves.

2. Choose the right advertising channels. Think about where your target audience might live and how you can “hook” them. For example, outdoor advertising and a well-designed sign are suitable for a small confectionery shop. An online hardware store can use contextual advertising and SEO.

3. Use content marketing. In 2017, 39% of companies in the world increased investments in this area of internet marketing, which proves its effectiveness. Content marketing is work for the future. It does not increase sales immediately, but over time you will notice the effect.

4. Approach SMM wisely. It's not all jokes and cats. Social networks have long turned into a good advertising channel; with their help, you can create demand for new products, find buyers for already known ones, promote your brand and maintain relationships with existing customers.

5. “Catch the Wave”: Stay up to date with the latest trends, events, viral memes and jokes. Especially if you have a young target audience who actively uses social networks. Having successfully played the next event, you can get new fans, who can then become your clients.

6. Use retargeting and remarketing: return to the site those who were interested in a product or service, but for some reason did not complete the purchase or order.

9. Analyze all advertising activities. See which channel brings in the most sales and disable unprofitable ones. This way, you can not only focus on what works the most, but also allocate your advertising budget correctly and avoid unnecessary expenses.

10. Use landing pages and promotional pages for new products and special offers. Such pages have higher conversion rates. It’s easier to promote them, and then you can turn them off as unnecessary. It's easier than adding new pages to the site.

Website

11. Describe in the site header, under the logo, what you do. Usually they put a slogan here, which doesn’t tell new clients anything about you. Write who you are - a sausage factory or legal advice.

12. Indicate on the site all possible means of communication with you: telephone number, address, location on the map, email address. Phone number and address can be indicated in the header of the site. Be sure to make a separate page “».

36. Delegate. In the initial stages, you will do a lot of things yourself. But you won’t be able to grow your business if you constantly drag everything on yourself. Learn to delegate routine tasks to someone else. In this case, when the question arises of changing the structure of your enterprise, expanding, opening branches, it will be much easier for you.

37. Organize an affiliate network. Connect to the sale of your goods, to attract traffic to the dealers’ website. They will find new channels to sell your products.

38. Open branches in other regions. Gradually expand into new territories. This way you will be able to cover more regions, new markets, and accordingly sales will go up.

48. Offer free services or products that arouse interest and encourage the purchase of a paid product. For example, in the information business, a free webinar is held in order to lure as many people as possible to a paid one.

49. Apply an individual approach to each client. Everyone is different, and you can learn your customer's preferences simply by making the right notes in your CRM.

50. Use expiring discounts that decrease over time. This technique “urges” buyers to buy more and quickly.

You can use one technique from this list, or weave several of them into your marketing strategy and business processes.

Let your sales grow!