The economy has taken a beating recently. That doesn't mean sales have to stop. In fact, now is a great time to develop a solid sales strategy that can carry your business forward. These seven techniques have been proven to work. Whether you use a B2B or B2C business model, employing can help your business increase sales this year.
1. Tell a Great Story
By telling a story and making your products and services relatable, you will greatly improve your sales. After all, who doesn't like a great story? Once you find the story that resonates with potential customers, stick with it. You don't have to use the exact one over and over, but work to develop a template based on it to keep increasing sales.2. Overcome Objections
While it might be tempting to downplay or ignore a potential customer's objections, it is a dangerous practice. Overcoming those objections is the key to landing the sale, and the quicker you address objections, the easier it will be to overcome them. Pay attention to connections that repeat themselves between customers and make a note of them. Then, find a way to work them into your sales presentation. This shows customers that you are thinking of their best interest right off the bat. While you do want to overcome objections, never confuse that with outright telling a customer they are wrong. This will create a bad feeling, and you always want to keep the sales process on a positive note.3. Establish Territories
If you have multiple sales reps handling customers, you want to minimize competition between them. Employing sales territory mapping tools is a smart way to handle that. It allows you to designate specific areas for each representative or team, which minimizes overlap. Then your reps can work together to develop better strategies instead of competing against each other.4. Make Customers the Focus
There are so many variations in the idea that you have undoubtedly heard it before: The customer comes first. What does that mean, exactly? In sales, that translates into the idea that your customer must feel valued and understood. Reach out to any potential leads immediately, or at least as soon as you possibly can. The longer you wait, the lower your chances of converting them into a sale becomes. Also, realize that it will likely take several contacts to get that conversion. These facts are backed by data from this recent study.5. Highlight Problems You Can Solve
People and businesses often, but not always, buy things because they have a problem and the item in question offers a solution. Before you even start a sales pitch, familiarize yourself with what problems you are going to help the customer solve. Can you increase their customers, streamline a process or provide a service that will make their life easier or better in some way? Work to show the customer how that can happen, and convince them it is worth the investment.6. Tailor the Delivery
Personalization is a powerful weapon in your arsenal, so don't be afraid to use it. Tailoring your sales pitch to each specific customer will improve the experience for them. It makes them feel valued, and that can definitely work in your favor. There are several proven strategies that can help you achieve this without having to develop a specific pitch for every new lead you encounter.7. Be Flexible
You may need to move a little on your numbers or your offer to close a sale. Know how much you can give before going into a meeting puts you in a good bargaining position. Keep in mind that, even if you flex as much as possible, you might not make the sale. After all, you can't realistically expect to close every sale you come across. Learn how to absorb the losses and learn from them. Then, let them go. Holding on to failure can negatively impact your outlook and make closing the next sale even more difficult.By following basic sales strategies and using sales tools to your advantage, you can increase sales even in a tough economy. Keeping the focus on the positive and being flexible will help support the process and boost morale.
