Ways to increase sales

It’s funny how when sales decrease the phone starts ringing! People we have never spoken to before suddenly want to talk to us. Rather than adopt a knee jerk reaction to decreasing sales, make a plan

• What is your sales target?
• Who are your target customers?
• How many new sales do you need?
• Do any of your existing customers want to buy your products or services?
• How do you stay in touch with them?
• Are your services and products still relevant to today’s market?

Three things to do now

1. Stay in touch with existing customers and clients on a regular basis
2. Conduct surveys to find out of your products and services are still relevant
3. Decide who you want as new customers
4. Agree the best way to approach them – it’s rarely by phone, much better to introduce yourself in a letter and say you will call

We rarely take calls from people we don’t know and the worst calls that start with ‘how are you today?’ Letters are a great way to introduce your business and at the moment we’ve noticed that our postbag has dropped. When we do get a letter we’re passing it around the office. Interesting how something becomes rare so quickly. There are more options to connect with people. We’re also using Twitter and have tweeted with and subsequently met someone we would not have met in other ways.

We’re using Twitter to source products and make recommendations. Today I'm looking for a greatcoffee maker and earlier I recommended companies for bathroom supplies. Twitter is immediate and easy to use. On Monday 27th July we’re hosting a one hour twitter webinar to share all our Twitter secrets – see http://www.evonomie.net/content.php/info_id/337 for details on Tweeting for Business: getting more out of Twitter for your business.

Labels: making a plan, twitter, using Twitter, ways to increase sales