5 Tips to Increase Product Sales
Whether you are a small business owner, in charge of sales for a large company or somewhere in between, increasing product sales is probably always on your mind. Adjust how you market your product to help make it more attractive to your customer and more in line with your business goals.
Mission / Goals
Begin with the end in mind. In other words, what do you ultimately want for your company? Do you want to sell it for a profit? Increase your charitable donations? Expand across the state? Clarifying the goals for your company will help you make strategic decisions focused on achieving those goals. Once you are clear on where you want to be in a year or five years, set smaller actionable steps such as more training for your workforce, a better accounting system or increasing advertising. Keep your mission always in mind as you work towards increasing your sales.
Aggressive Pricing
Unless you have a totally unique product and can set the price in isolation, you are probably going to need to engage in some competitive pricing. Many consumers actively look for the best deal available, and with online shopping, it’s fairly easy to compare two or more products. Some platforms, like Amazon, compare products for you, so it’s simple for the buyer to switch to something similar offered at a cheaper price. Keeping up with how to price your product can be a daunting task but a necessary one to stay in the game.
Deals/ Specials
Driving consumer interest in your product can be achieved through offering deals. Everybody loves a bargain, so running promotions or specials on products bundled together can help increase your sales. Special deals will also help you gain new customers who are jumping on board just for the deal. If they are satisfied, many of them are likely to stay and continue buying your product. Be careful to make each deal actually worth something. Buyers grow weary and wary of everything being on sale all the time. It’s certainly okay to have something on sale all the time, just rotate what it is to keep shoppers stopping back by for the next good deal.
Customer Focused
Consider what your product does for your customer and let this guide your sales technique. How can the consumer benefit from the purchase? The answer may not be the same for every buyer even if they are purchasing the same product. Training your sales force to understand what drives each consumer could very well be the key to increasing sales. Older people may want to know that they will always be able to call and talk to a real person hassle-free if they need assistance. Younger buyers may value convenience and technological integration over everything else. Families with young children may be concerned first and foremost with the safety of the product. Find out what your customer needs and sell to that need.
Advertising
There are plenty of forums for advertising from billboards, to print ads, to television commercials, to social media platforms, to hanging signs up on telephone poles. The question is with which one do you get the most bang for your buck. Most experts agree that embracing social media is a must. In many cases, it’s less expensive than the print alternatives. To start with, register your business with search engines like Google and Yahoo. Create a Facebook page and Instagram account and friend compatible businesses in the hopes that they will friend you back and perhaps steer some customers your way. Upgrade your website to make it very user friendly and then purchase some search engine optimization (SEO) articles to send online traffic your way.
Increasing your product sales is a balancing act that begins with a focus on your company’s mission. Beyond that, knowing your consumer is key as is getting the word out to your consumer that your product is worth buying and priced well.
