Are you a business owner? Do you like sales? If you’ve answered yes to both of these questions, this article is for you! Whether your business is housed online or you have a brick-and-mortar location, these five tips will help guide you in generating more sales.
1. Arrange for a press release!
An effective strategy for all, garnering the services of your local media outlets can greatly assist in extending your reach to your targeted demographic location. Don’t know where to begin? Start local. Contact publishers of local newspapers, media outlets, and periodicals. These local print media resources survive because of the advertising they sell, but they thrive because of stories they collect to keep their readers engaged—stories like yours! Your community prefers helping people and supporting local businesses (whether brick-and-mortar or online), rather than some random stranger online.
2. Harness the power of influencers!
Albeit more easily accessible for online businesses, harnessing the power of influencers can be achieved offline as well, and this is an excellent way to build your brand, but let’s chat about online first. If you are a newer business, seek out small-to-medium-sized influencers who are eager for content, and avoid larger influencers who will look for upfront payment. Be sure to provide your influencers with affiliate links so they have a vested interest in the success of your product or service. Connect with your influencers before, during, and after campaigns. Maintain positivity in your relationship, and ensure timely compensation.
For offline businesses, your influencers (or perhaps more appropriately for brick-and-mortar businesses, influences) are going to be community-based and event-driven. In other words, increasing brand awareness might be achieved through your business sponsoring a community event. Your name being displayed on a banner or on the back of a 5K t-shirt would provide brand visibility, and your goodwill and desire to support your community will drive their desire to support your business.
Word-of-mouth advertising is exceedingly powerful. You want your influencers to eagerly share positive gains with their loyal followers. You don’t want your influencers to disappointedly declare their grievances because of a negative experience.
The Plumber
You don’t have to provide free plumbing services to prospective customers, but you could donate your plumbing expertise with building a Habitat for Humanity home.
What would you gain by providing these charitable services?
- A desirable reputation: Helping those who are less fortunate will not only help the recipient; it will provide a favorable outcome for you as well. People like seeing people helping people, and your kindness will not go unnoticed.
- Media attention: Along with community initiatives such as these is the presence of the local media, which will inevitably help increase brand awareness for your business, which will subsequently drive sales.
- Customers: The majority of people involved in charity have more disposable income, meaning that they can afford your services. Your charitable contribution has shone a positive light upon you and has set you apart from your competition.
- Admiration: People like buying from, or using the services of, those they admire. This is why influencers are so effective. People want to be them and they want to be known by them.
“Selling is the art of building relationships and not the art of conquest.”
— Hans-Eirik Hanifl, Founder of E-Commerce Gorilla
3. Provide samples or trials!
Offering samples of a product or a free trial to a service introduces potential customers to what your business has to offer them, without the pressure of committing to a purchase.
Own a brick-and-mortar business? Provide a taste of a product. Don’t sell consumable goods? No worries! Have an open house, and offer a free hot dog and drink to encourage prospective customers to visit your place of business. This creates a welcoming environment for the customer and a sense of reciprocity, and it builds brand awareness for your business.
Does your business exist only online? No problem! You could offer a “satisfaction guarantee” and 100% free returns if the customer is not satisfied. This is a great way to generate sales by bridging the initial sales gap and eliminating any hesitancy to commit to that purchase.
One more thing… if you are having an open house, embrace tip number one and contact your local press for media coverage.
4. Create engaging videos!
Connecting with a new brand or business can be difficult because a relationship has not yet been established. Creating engaging videos for your website and social media platforms can help bridge that transition.
You might be wondering: “What type of content should I include in these videos?” Well… the most effective videos to produce when building your brand are those that present and answer questions about your products or services.
This approach enables you to guide your prospective customers through your product or service, establish how what you are offering is unique from your competitors, and help you to establish rapport. Remember what we talked about in tip number one? People like to buy from people they know.
5. Sell through your friends and family!
This is the most effective way of generating sales, and it’s FREE! Now, it’s important to differentiate, and it is important to understand that you do not want to sell to your friends and family; you want to sell through them.
Your friends and family are going to be the most loyal and committed resource you have for increasing awareness of your brand, by telling people about it.
“Need a plumber? I have a nephew who is a professional plumber. Let me give you his phone number.”
“Like funny t-shirts? I have a friend who makes and sells the funniest t-shirts online. Here is his website.”
Your friends and family will help you build your brand. They will post online for you. They will talk you up. They will build upon your reputation. All of this will lead to sales, but remember, the key is to sell through them, not to them.
If you only take one thing away from this article, let it be that selling is the art of building relationships and not the art of conquest. When a potential customer feels a connection, it is much easier to close the sale, and build lasting relationships.
