Increasing sales is something many businesses struggle with. Just because you have the desire to boost sales doesn’t mean you have the tools, knowledge, or plan in place to facilitate it. And while there are plenty of common tips that you can use, those alone may not be enough. Here we’ll take a look at some unexpected ways you can increase sales in the company and start to see faster, more impactful results.
Embrace Cross-Selling at Every Opportunity
If you’ve never heard of the term cross-selling, now is the time to change that. Cross-selling can be a highly efficient tool for businesses to use, increasing sales quite substantially. It is the practice of offering or suggesting a complementary product to customers during the checkout or shopping experience.
A simple example can be that a customer purchases a battery-operated item, so you cross-sell by also suggesting they purchase batteries. The batteries complement the original purchase and will make sense to the customer. The items you suggest don’t have to be expensive or elaborate, they just need to make sense with the initial item.
Of course, for this practice to work, you need a knowledgeable sales staff that can make logical cross-selling suggestions.
High-Risk Businesses Can Switch Merchant Accounts
Sometimes increasing sales doesn’t require a company to sell more products, but they do need to find a way to make more money on each sale – increase the profit margin. There are many ways to go about this but an unexpected solution may be to switch merchant accounts. If your company is classified as high-risk then you could be paying a fortune in processing fees. It may not even be that your company is considered high risk; rather, it is the industry it resides in that is out of your control.
Try looking for a high-risk merchant account that can bring down the fees, which means the company enjoys a higher profit margin.
Create a Customer Loyalty Program
Loyal customers play a huge role in sales, as you want to be sure they stick around and make future purchases. There are all kinds of ways to create loyal customers but if your goal is to increase sales, consider creating a customer loyalty program. These programs act as an incentive to customers to not only stick with your business but to make regular purchases.
A customer loyalty program can take on various forms and be anything you want. It’s wise to look at what other companies are doing, in particular, the competition, so that you can tailor a unique program.
Some of the incentives you can offer include discounts, free shipping, exclusive offerings, sneak peeks of upcoming products, early buying access to new products, free products, or samples, and so forth.
It’s Time to Be Creative
The fact is that times are a bit tough right now. Inflation is hitting businesses and consumers in a big way, so it can be hard to find a way to increase sales if people are inherently spending less. These creative tips can help to ensure your business stays on the right track and continues to grow its profits.
