For any business that provides tangible products, selling merchandise online typically comes with a learning curve. This is especially true in the online world, where conventional methods of sales – like using representatives – simply don’t work. That being said, here are a few solid tips to help boost your online sales strategy.
Have a B2C / B2B Sales Plan
Having a solid sales plan is vital for any sales prospect. Your plan will guide you along the way, help you to grow as time passes, and help you keep track of where you went wrong.
Many small businesses don’t have a sales plan, leaving them without a secure strategy. This can cause misunderstanding of objectives, failure to identify necessary improvements, and lead to worst-case scenarios.
How to Form a Plan
Before you have a fully fleshed out sales plan, you need to consider what your objectives are and how you’re going to reach them. You’ll also need to decide how you will measure your successes and failures, writing everything down as you form this guideline.
If you’re still struggling, you can learn from others who have been in similar positions. This includes reassessing your company and comparing it to your competitors.
Regular Meetings
A small business may only have a few employees, but if all the representatives selling your merchandise are not on the same track, it easy to make mistakes. This is why holding regularly scheduled sales team meetings is essential.
We know it can be time-consuming, but having each member share their approach to bringing in sales can help others increase their sales rate. It also gives you a chance to provide staff members with new information that may impact their performance.
Advice for Holding Meetings
We highly recommend two types of meetings with your team: weekly group meetings and individual interviews. Weekly group meetings help you motivate staff members, go over your strategy, and review best practices for sales. It’s also a perfect time to share new information about products or upcoming events.
One-on-one meetings should focus on the individual sales of each staff member, assessing how they’re doing, what needs improvement, and how to increase their sales rate. It’s the perfect time to coach staff and provide them with the knowledge to overcome obstacles that they may encounter.
When starting, you’ll want to have both types meetings scheduled regularly. Once you understand what your team needs, you can scale down on the frequency of individual sessions.
Follow Your Leads
It is essential for any business to develop B2C or B2B sales leads and nurture them. This is not always as easy as it seems, and you are left with useless leads that won’t help hit your goals.
Avoid Wasting Time
Some leads are hopeless, leaving you with only wasted time and energy spent trying to secure the client. This is why you need to develop qualified leads – also knows as SQL leads or HQL leads. They are going to require a bit of research.
Factors Affecting the Quality of a Lead
We know that there’s a lot of information to consider when pursuing any potential client, but there are several tips that can streamline the process of verification. Here are some factors that will help you determine if a lead is in fact a potential client.
One of the main things is their level of interest in your product. If there’s no interest, then there’s no need to pursue the lead. Next is to find out if they have any existing contracts, which may impact the of timeliness on closing a deal.
A small start-up probably won’t have the capital to purchase much and is likely only to buy a small quantity if a sale is made. This impacts how important that client will be to your sales goals.
Last is the location of yourself and the client. This can impact whether products can be shipped to them and how well they’ll sell at the client’s site.
Keep Track of Your Referrals
When a customer is fully appreciative of their service or product received, they might recommend you to potential clients. This helps develop trust with the client you were referred to. With careful cultivation, this can be an easy sale.
Trust is an immensely important criteria for any customer that’s considering your product. If they don’t feel you have a reliable product or brand, they’re likely to be a lost cause. A referral already comes with a certain level of trust and is more likely to become a sale that could bring in more potential customers down the line.
Try, Try Again
We all have many missed sales, and the only way to reduce these and up your selling rate is with a healthy dose of tenacity. By implementing these steps, you’ll be well on your way to closing more deals.
