Picture this: you’ve come up with a great idea for a small business. You’ve created a product that will change lives. You’ve spent a small fortune perfecting it, built a website and spent six unpaid months getting everything ready to go live while dreaming of the sound of a cash register chiming over and over as the sales role in. Your store finally swings open its doors, either physically or digitally and then… crickets.
Unfortunately, coming up with a great concept for a small business is only part of the success equation. If you can’t sell it, all your work and investment is for nought. Selling is one of the hardest areas for a small business and there’s no magic bullet. But if you follow these five tips, you will supercharge your sales.
Make sure your pricing is still competitive
Competitive pricing will maintain sales momentum and grow your bottom line. Regularly evaluate market trends and analyse changes made by your competitors. It is not always about having the lowest price, it is about ensuring you are profitable and positioning your products at the price that remains relevant in a dynamic marketplace.
Is your website optimised?
Mobile commerce make up more than 60 per cent of sales. So, it is important to ensure websites are mobile-friendly and fast. In addition, are you accepting a variety of payment methods? Websites that do not offer Afterpay as a payment option are missing out on a large volume of sales.
Marketing
If you rely solely on GoogleAds to drive traffic to your business, you are missing out on building sales through social media. In addition, are you collecting the email addresses of site visitors? Do you have email campaigns setup to promote your products and build sales to your existing customer base? Successful brands actively use email marketing to retarget customers to grow organic sales on their website.
Channels
A multi-channel online sales strategy maximises reach by leveraging diverse platforms such as websites, social media, and marketplaces (think Amazon). It broadens audience access, increases brand visibility, and optimises sales potential. In addition, Amazon is growing rapidly across Australia and offers your business an opportunity to expand globally and increase your footprint to countries like the US, UK, EU and Japan.
Branding
When was the last time you updated the images on your website? Keeping your content fresh ensures site visitors are greeted with modern content and gives existing customers new content regularly. Updating websites with fresh content bolsters engagement, attracting and retaining visitors.
Sales are the lifeblood of any small business, they’re vital for sustainability and growth. There will never be a set and forget sales strategy, it will always be a constant cycle of small tweaks. Make it part of your regular routine and your till will be chiming in no time.
