Are you a small business owner or a startup?
Would you like to drive more sales on a tight budget?
With the right tactics, you can connect with prospects and generate more sales.
Finding new customers to buy your product or service is a lifeblood for your business.
Let me ask you a question, what’s your company’s top priority?
Converting your leads into customers!
Right?
According to Hubspot’s State of Inbound report, “70% of marketers focus on converting leads into customers and drive sales.”
I can understand, the budget is always a critical part for a small business owner or a startup owner.
The good news?
There are some proven ways to improve your sales and grow your business.
In this post, you’ll discover seven practical tips you can implement to attract more customers who will buy your service or product.
Let’s dive in!
1. Understand your customer’s needs
“Make A Customer, Not A Sale.” – Katherine Barchetti
If you want to win a customer, you must understand her. Who is she? What does she require? What’s her problem? How can you help her? How can you add some value in her life?
It’s not enough to promote to market your service/product, you must make a connection with your customers.
Start a two-way conversation and listen carefully what they are saying. Don’t play a blind game. Simply ask them what they are expecting from you.
Do market research, conduct surveys, do interviews, etc.
Entertain every customer personally. Make a strategy around customers. Show your care for them.
See this email which I got from Hector:
2. People don’t buy features, they buy benefits
Read this phrase from Theodore Levitt, Harvard Business School marketing professor, “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!”
This phrase tells so much.
It may sound harsh, but customers don’t care about you and your products. They only care about what your product can do for them.
There’s only one question in a customer’s mind, “what’s in it for me?”
And if they don’t get an answer, they don’t buy. Simple.
Features are important to tell about your product, but benefits sell.
Image Source: Help Scout
When a marketer says “iPod has storage for 1GB of MP3 songs”
You will ask so what?
You have to answer this “so what” if you want to sell this iPod.
“1000 songs in your pocket” is a benefit.
TOMS does a great job when it comes to evoking human emotions. They show benefits through storytelling.
What’s your website like? Full of features?
Deliver some value in your message.
3. Use the power of content marketing
Do you understand the power of content marketing?
Yes! You’re a smart business owner.
Create informative and engaging content that helps your prospects and customers to solve their queries.
Content marketing provides great opportunities for you.
Jolie Miller, content strategy and acquisitions leader at LinkedIn stated here,
“What I love about content is it has the power to change people’s lives for a second or for a day or forever. Great content creates space for people to pause and reflect, and that space is where transformation happens.”
Create a different form of content: blog posts, website content, video, social media posts, infographics, presentations, podcasts, campaigns, contests, etc.
Denny’s Facebook live Q&A with a Pancake is a great example of interactive content:
4. Offer your potential customer something valuable (for Free)
Did you close the deal?
The battle isn’t over yet.
What matters is keep that customer.
It’s 6-7 times more expensive to win a new customer than to retain an existing one.
The potential customers are the core of your business. Offer them something valuable like coupon code, special discount, gifts, Free shipping, Free guide, Free demo, rewards etc.
Special offers make your customers feel special. And everyone wants to feel special. It’s a human nature.
As Gary Vaynerchuk says, “The best marketing strategy ever: CARE.”
These type of incentives will take your relationship with customers to the next level.
In this email, Williams-Sonoma is offering Free Shipping:
5. Ask for customer reviews and testimonials
How important are customer reviews and testimonials for your business?
Testimonials can increase conversion on your sales pages by 34%. (Source)
63% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a site which has user reviews.
We, human, are social creatures and our decisions are affected by other humans.
People buy from a business they can trust. In this competitive world, it’s very hard to win a customer and make a conversion.
It’s your job to show them why they should trust you.
According to ReputationDefender “Deliver on what you promise a customer. Show customers that you value their opinion and that you are willing to improve to make the experience better for them and they are more likely to write a testimonial for you.”
You can simply ask your happy customers to share their experience and story. And put their words on your website.
Customer quotes, social media praises, interviews, case studies, customer success stories, show number of customers and subscribers, etc.
See how Kissmetrics does this:
6. Host an event
Hosting events are one of the creative and personal ways to generate new leads.
No matter what industry you’re in, hosting a live event is a great medium to grab the attention of prospects and influencers. It will help you to build brand awareness.
According to Statista survey, 79% of US marketers generate sales using event marketing.
You must seize this opportunity to generate goodwill, and earn the trust of potential buyers and customers.
Sensodyne conduct “The Great Sensitivity Test”.
7. Customer service is the new marketing!
Customers are the most important assets for a business. It should be your first priority to provide them a great customer experience.
See your customer service as a marketing tool. It’s more important than price.
86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience.
“Customers may forget what you said but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.”
Here’s an example of exceptional customer service: Sainsbury’s took advice from a 3-year old and change the name of their bread.
Now it’s your turn – What do you think? What do you do to generate more sales? What are the results? Please share your thoughts in the comment section!
