Whangarei Business Sales – Business Broker Mike Ponsonby

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Increasing Sales: There are only 3 ways to sell more

Increasing sales for your business can be the easiest way to increase the value of your business for sale.

As a business broker (and a strong background in sales) I see lots of  businesses that lack sales. I am not talking about problems with margins and mark ups, but just simple sales. It seems they have one thing in common; they don’t understand the basic principles of sales.

There are ONLY 3 ways to increase sales:

1. See more people; Work ethic, advertising & social media (used in the right way), networking,  free press releases, product updates

2. Sell to more people; product knowledge, confidence (body language, eye to eye contact, tone of voice), understanding the customers needs, benefits VS features, strategic partnerships

3. Sell more TO people; Upsell, package deal, bulk orders, loyalty programmes, database marketing, 

Below you can find 5 impulse factors that trigger emotions in buyers. Getting into the minds of customers can be boiled down to these 5 factors. Each one is used to assist the methods above;

  • They are looking to save money;

If it sounds too good to be true, it must be, RIGHT?! Package your deals so the customer has no option but to take the upsell! Everyone loves a bargain, no matter what the essential item cost! (GREED)

  • Keeping up with the Jonese’s;

People love items that have proven to be worth buying, but also love to be trendsetters! Brands like Samsung & Apple are popular but this can be used for any brand that you want to get rid off! Example;”Lots of people have [Apple & Samsung] but [this local brand] is what we have sold most of the last few months..” or “Most people are buying 2 of these, one for themselves and 1 for their mum for mothersday” (SHEEP FACTOR)

  • Make the customer feel they are missing out;

Good example is The Warehouse advertising they have only “8 [items] per store!”. I challenge anyone to prove that that is true; it is a tactic! “Last day”, “Only 3 in stock”, “This is the last in this colour”! (FEAR OF LOSS)

  • Create a sense of urgency;

Give the customer an ultimatum of when to purchase; “ONLY today”, “this weekend ONLY”, “[XYZ Holiday] special” (SENSE OF URGENCY)

  • Don’t be desperate to sell;

people LOVE to buy but they don’t like to be sold to; “it is up to you”. This is best used in combination with some of the points above; (with Fear of Loss) “I sold 3 today so I only have 2 left so it is up to you…”. (INDIFFERENCE)

 

An example of  The ultimate sales pitch (using all of the above) is if you can convince a buyer (believable without sounding like a sales person; “To be honest, [I don’t really mind if you waste my time] I sold so many of these in the last week that I only have 3 left but they HAVE to go today at this price.”

The customer will hear; “tomorrow they will be back to the normal price, or sold out and I better buy this shit before this other guy in the store buys it!  I saw it on the internet cheaper but I can have this NOW, not waiting until the postman comes around!”

Effectively, ANY “sales” sign creates the 5 emotions described above. Some stores have “Sales” year round, (which usually backfires and prevents customers from coming back) Remember; customers love to buy but they don’t like to be sold to!

Sort out the basics in your business and you WILL have something to sell. When selling a business you will be judged on sales and profit, everything else is “fluff” that might look nice. If you need help, ask me. Happy to help and it will not cost you anything! +64 21 421 346: lines are open.

*NOTE: This topic is about increasing sales; I am not talking about increasing revenue through reducing Cost of Sales or increasing margins. This is about going back to the basics of Sales 101 and increasing sales.

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