5 Techniques to Double Your Sales This Year

Far too many small business  owners scurry around trying to increase sales using big promotions or ad campaigns or the latest flavor-of-the-month method. They do all this because the thought of spending money on advertising is chilling.

They swing for the fences or search for the proverbial magic bullet to increase their sales and give them that revenue spike they are craving.

The chances of one “thing” boosting your business are a long shot.

My “5 Keys to Double Your Sales this Year”

There is a way to double your sales this year and you don’t have to spend an additional dime on advertising. The best businesses take the time to provide better service and value.  All it takes is a little planning and executing with consistency.

1) Maximize Your Current Client Base/Get Referrals

The best place to start is with your existing clientele because they are the easiest to sell to.

As you do, consider these questions:

• Are they taking advantage of all the products and services you provide?
• Are there any upgrades your clients could use?
• Are there other departments that may be helped by your company?

You might wonder why you’d want to start with other departments. It is a fallacy to assume that just because you have a great relationship with one department means they are shouting your accolades to other departments. Major corporations have different divisions and different locations. Treat each one like a new client account.

Get Referrals

The business world may talk about referrals but no one talks about their system to consistently bring in new contacts—probably because almost no one has a system!

You need to determine where your referrals will come from. Your clients are your best source, followed by family and friends. Ask if they know of anyone who may need your services. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know.

Additionally, here some key points to developing a great referral system:

• Consider creating a referral system that rewards clients for their recommendations.
• Use monthly benchmarks—actual numbers—to boost referrals.
• Reward the person with the most referrals in the month.

As a side note: A referral program is not something you resort to out of desperation. Set up a system that keeps you in consistent contact with your clients or associates.

I’ve had the best results with utilizing what I call “Starbucks meetings” over any other marketing I’ve done. Consider regular meetings where you discuss how you can help each other because referrals work both ways. When you’re looking for ways to refer others, they’ll return the favor.

2) Create a New Package

People love buying packages because of the ease of purchasing and the higher perceived value.

I have a client who did this in his stationary store. He created a birthday package complete with a card, plush toy, and telephone calling card. The results were spectacular. Not only is he still selling them today, he’s created new packages as well.

Give it a try. Take a few of your products or services, bundle them together with their own name and offer it to your customers. Do this every month with a new package.

Since we’re always looking for something new, this gives you a good reason to call your clients.

3) Up-Sell

Take a moment to consider that business is, at its core, transaction-based. On top of that, you can personally handle only so many transactions per year, and you have a goal to add revenue with each sale. One way to increase your revenue is through up-sells.

McDonald’s is a fantastic example of maximizing revenue using up-sells.

First they established packaged items, the base sale, and then they offer the opportunity to up-sell by offering additional product (e.g. large fries and drink) for a nominal amount. Now 50 cents more on an order may not sound exciting, but when you take into account the volume of orders McDonalds processes, the figures are in the millions of additional revenue.

Take a moment to consider your own business. What would an increase of 20% to 30% of your sales look like? What would your bottom line look like?

It’s easy to overlook this powerful sales technique. But you don’t have to.

With a little planning you can create a selection of offers to gauge the interest of your customers. Then keep testing until you discover the best combination for your clientele.

4) Dynamic Copy

Copy writing is a learned skill. Oftentimes, I see small business owners attempting to write their own copy. Most of the time, the copy is weak and the results are not worth the cost of promoting the product or service.

Many small business owners write their own copy because they think they cannot afford a copy writer. They might spend $1,000 a month on marketing with zero results, but they are tied to the idea of advertising to build their businesses even when they don’t get a return. People do this daily.

When you have that one piece of good copy, it can work for you over and over again, for years. The best part is this… you only pay once for it.

Take the time to dissect your copy to ensure it's garnering the response you need.

Here are a few tips to good copy:

• Offer Multiple Benefits
• Tell Me How to Respond
• Tell Me What to Do (call, email or website)
• Close with a Strong Benefit-Driven Offer

If you can’t do this yourself, then invest in a good copywriter to get the job done. It’s worth it.

5) Use the Internet

Is your website generating revenue for you?

The very first thing you’ll want to do is capture email addresses to build your list. You can do this easily by offering a contest or a free eBook. Many are happy to give up their email address in the hopes of winning a contest, or for valuable tips and tricks in an eBook.

As you gather addresses and build your list, send out valuable and useful information to them.

For example, create a newsletter with special offers in it. Don’t forget to send out usable information to your list as well. This builds trust and credibility which translates into sales.

Providing a newsletter doesn’t have to be expensive. You can use a service like Constant Contact to manage your list. They even have templates, making it extremely easy even if you’re not tech-savvy.

Consistency is the Key

It’s easy to read over these strategies and file them away for further use. They are more effective if you practice them regularly and make it part of your company culture.

Select one of the five keys and commit to using it. As you become successful in that strategy, pick another. Keep doing this until you are consistently utilizing all 5 strategies.

As you become more and more successful, don’t forget to keep selling so your pipeline is never empty. Avoid the “peaks and valleys” trap of inconsistency in marketing yourself. When you build a sale process correctly, your business will grow.