7 Easy Ways to Boost Sales Fast

One Thursday afternoon, my four partners and I were looking over the books for our small technology firm and had no idea how we were going to cover the next day’s payroll.

We had no cash, no investors and no bank to run to. Even considering the painful decision to lay off staff wouldn’t work. We were still on the hook for the time they had already put in. And without staff how would we continue to serve all our clients?

We were in a panic!

But as a situation of that kind often does, we doubled down our problem-solving efforts and focused on finding a solution.

Digging into our own personal reserves, we scraped together enough to get by for 90 days, but after that we would be absolutely spent.

So with just 90 days to save our company, we focused all our efforts in finding a solution.

You may not be as bad off as we were that day, but consider stepping into the mindset of problem solving in that type of situation. Whether you have thousands of employees or you’re a sole proprietorship, you can’t go wrong thinking of laser-focused ways to boost sales and increase profit.

In those 90 “make or break” days, my partners and I used the following 7 strategies to get results.

1. Identify Your Customer’s “Big Result”

A lot of struggling companies generally have decent methods and systems in place. What they often lack is the knowledge of what is the all-important “big result” they deliver for their customers.   Quite often they have no clarity on exactly what they do and offer.

Companies make changes over time and this is often creates a problem. They may be established and making revenue but suddenly realize that what they’re selling and doing aren’t really in alignment.

The best thing to keep in mind is that anything can be improved. So even if you think you’ve got the perfect mission statement, idea or approach, you need to know your “after picture” and be able to convey it to your customers and potential customers. The bulk of companies with revenue issues miss this key point.

2. Be Familiar with Your Audience Inside and Out

Though it’s great to have deep knowledge of your target market, you also want to be sure that anyone who comes across your message will see enough value to transform from a passerby into someone with an active interest in your product.

Paying for expensive market research to improve sales isn’t your only option—you can gather a lot of information about your audience based on the work you do and what you already know about your prospects.

1. Create a few customer profiles with detailed avatars. Name them, figure out how much they make, where they work, what their hobbies are, and what keeps them up at night.
2. List what possible objections they might have to using your product. Figure out what phrase or sentence would automatically trigger them to make an immediate sale.
3. Sort your avatars into “need segments,” groups that reflect their requirements. I’ve got two groups of “post-sale” avatars and four groups of “pre-sale” avatars that I use.
   1. “Pre-sale” avatars – the loiterer, the looker, the shopper and the buyer.
   2. “Post-sale” avatars – are split into customers and fans.

Be sure to include all of your audience segmentation groups.  Ensure your messaging for each group is clearly communicated in language specific to where they are in your sales cycle.

3. Show How Your Product Gives Results

If you believe the “Big Result” promise to your customers is clearly outlined in your product messaging, but you’re still not seeing good sales, it might be time to examine your “Big Result” message.

Re-familiarize yourself with your avatars to make sure you’re clearly conveying the most effective “Big Result” to the right avatar group. What looks enticing to the loiterer might not be enough for the shopper, so be sure you’re addressing the individual needs of each segment in language that will resonate with what drives them.

Changing the positioning of your product to suit the needs of the various avatars sometimes means recreating your offer. If that’s the case, don’t waste time with indecision—simply tap into that avatar’s “Big Result” to create a strong suggestion.

Finally, check the efficiency of your process and “trim the fat,” so to speak. Get rid of any needless procedures that don’t have a high return on the time investment.  Uncover the optimal end result for your customer profiles.  At this point, you’re looking for the minimum viable outcome, a la Eric Ries’ Lean philosophy.

4. Make Buying a Breeze

Creating an easy way for people to begin the buying process is imperative to improving sales and it’s more vital than ever if you have a higher-ticket item.

One of the easiest methods to ensure recurring customer purchases is to encourage a smaller-ticket buy. If you offer an “introductory” taste of your product or even some kind of high-level analysis or report, it reduces the reservations customers have when purchasing for the first time.

A company who’s only product costs thousands of dollars, and has no other customer engagement, will find it much more difficult to sell than if they were to bridge the gap with other offers and interaction.

5. Educate

Being known as a wise industry leader gives you clout and customers a sense of partnership with an “expert.” You can pack in perceived value by educating them on your product’s benefits, as well as the industry at large.

Instead of focusing solely on sales, trust that teaching your audience will not only inform them on the importance of your product, but also creates goodwill and loyalty that can prove invaluable to your bottom line. Education can increase your revenue by shortening the time between interest and sale. It can also pave the way for bigger sales later on through bigger value propositions.

By offering education, you’ll get bigger sales faster.

6. Frequently Evaluate the Relevancy of Your Message

As the market constantly changes, your messaging is never immune to going “out of date”. To stay on top of your customers’ needs, revisit your messaging often to ensure it still aligns with the feedback you get.

To help you evaluate the efficacy of your messaging, be sure to track and analyze metrics along with conversion rates. Because you’ve created a process with multiple steps, you can measure the conversion and metrics of each one so you can identify problems before losing a sale.

Keep track of the numbers.  If signs indicate you’re not on track to reach your goals, you’ll be in a good spot to detect what needs adjusting.

The info gathering, analyzing and adjusting are a key element in optimizing your sales process.  This will keep you up-to-date on the dynamic and competitive market. The overview will give you a decided edge over those who fail to track, analyze and adjust.

7. Have a Strong, Unified Sales Delivery

Every sales executive—whether it’s just you or a whole team—should know what part they play in creating the “Big Result” for each avatar you’ve created.

Because your messaging varies from avatar to avatar, sales needs to actively work each of the multiple steps you’ve outlined in your plan. They need to be involved in the regular analysis of metrics.

If sales executives are hung up on just closing the deal or aren’t sure what’s involved in the process from beginning to end, all sales suffer. If they’re ineffective, it’s often because they don’t have a clear process to follow.

Now that you’ve identified your goals, established avatars and created a step by step protocol, hold yourself and the team accountable for executing the plans you worked hard to create.

90 Days Later

What I just shared with you saved our firm and transformed our focus toward a marketing and sales strategy. Just three months after our panicked meeting, we were in Las Vegas teaching executives sales and marketing strategies during a live, two-day paid event.

My work has shifted toward the marketing and sales aspect and today I assist many companies as they work to launch products and improve their profits within 90 days.

Since then, I’ve been happily helping struggling business owners find profitable success, and I know you can join their ranks. After 15 years working with analytics companies on marketing their offers, I know what it takes to increase sales—quickly. If you’re interested in ramping up your revenue in the next 90 days, CLICK HERE to check out my in-depth guide.