How to Increase Sales using the 5 Major Marketing Messages
With a new financial year upon us, it is time to assess how our business performance measured up to our expectations last year and set some new goals for the year to come. But new goals such as How to Increase Sales without new strategies are the beginning of delusion.
Most of us start a new year wondering how to increase sales for the next year. We focus on our marketing strategies to see how we can improve them to achieve better results. I have found that incorporating the following five messages into marketing strategies creates an incredible impact and leads to, sometimes, exponential increases in sales results. These messages are directed personally to your customers and touch on the five most important factors to influence their buying decision and how to increase sales.
How to Increase Sales Step 1. Your needs are so important to me that it is my purpose in life to help you.
Have you clarified and defined your business mission? Having a clearly defined mission, or purpose, for your business makes it so much easier to communicate that message to your customers. Your mission should clearly state what you are aiming to achieve for the benefit of your customers. That is the reason you are in the business you are in and the reason behind your actions when you go to work each day. Your entire focus is on producing a product or service that people need. Make sure you can clearly state what that purpose is and communicate that message to your customers in your marketing and advertising.
How to Increase Sales Step 2. Our solution is unique.
Because we are purpose driven to meet your needs, we have developed a unique solution that meets your needs in a way that no one else can match. This solution is unique to us, you won’t be able to get it from any of our competitors.
Have you developed a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) for your business? If you don’t have anything that differentiates you from your competitors, you can’t provide your customers any reason to come to you specifically. No USP means you are locked into competing on price. No one wins in a price war. Reducing margins will erode your profits. Developing a USP will help you show your customers why they should shop with you and why your competitors can’t provide the best solution
How to Increase Sales Step 3. You will be delighted by the value of our solution.
Further to the uniqueness of your solution, you need to convince your customers that they will receive a value that will be more than the cost of puchase, as well as a value that will be better than if they buy from your competitors. People don’t buy on price. If this were that case we would all be driving Ladas or Daihatsus or similar.
The fact that people do buy luxury saloon cars or flashy sports cars should be enough to convince you that people buy on a value that is determined by their unique tastes and needs. To be able to communicate the unique value you offer, you need to be clear about what that value is. Just telling your customers that you have great quality and good service won’t cut it.
Everybody says that.
You need to be much more specific about the benefits of your products and service and spell out to your customers exactly what value they will receive from you. People don’t want to know so much about the technical features of your product, they want to know how your product will make their life easier or more enjoyable. They want to know not just that you will solve their problem, but how much better off they will be as a result; how they will feel using your product and after they have used your product. You need to become good at telling stories about how your customers feel and how much better off they are now that they have used your product.
How to Increase Sales Step 4. You can trust what we say about our solution—let me prove it to you.
It will be no surprise to you that customers are skeptical of what they see and hear in advertising. You need to find a way to help them believe your claims about your purpose, uniqueness and value. The best way to achieve the level of trust required to convince your customers of the truth of your claims is to get your existing customers to tell your potential customers with their own words, describing their own experience of your products and services. Positive word of mouth advertising can be the natural result of the delight your customers feel after using your products and experiencing your service. Sometimes though, you need to give this process a helping hand.
To help this process along, you should do everything in your power to get written testimonials from your customers. Encourage them to put their positive comments to you in your conversations with them into writing, so you can show others what they have said. Then use these testimonials in your advertising.
The next best way to help your customers believe your claims is to give them outrageous guarantees. If you really deliver what you promise, you can afford to back your claims with guarantees that mean that your customers can never lose if they take the risk to buy from you.
Another term for this process is “risk reversal.” Back your claims by guarantees that mean you take the risk in the purchase transaction, not your customer. The results from this strategy can be amazing. You will find that your fears that this policy will be abused are unfounded. The gains will far outweigh the losses, if you really do provide good quality and service.
How to Increase Sales Step 5. You need to act now...!
You need to build in a sense of urgency into your promotions. If you do have a unique solution to a real need, the urgency should already be built in. The sooner you start using the product, the sooner your problem is solved. But sometimes customers need some extra encouragement to make a decision to buy now. Find out how you can help them to make that decision. If you have achieved results with the previous 4 messages, this step should be easier.
But sometimes, if there is an element of scarcity or an impending price rise, it can help your customer make a decision faster. But make sure these reasons are valid, not a high pressure sales tactic. Your customers will see through that sort of trick and it will just undermine all the positive rapport your work in the other areas has built.
How to Increase Sales Step - Conclusion
Your marketing messages need to be compelling to have the greatest impact. These 5 messages, incorporated into all of your advertising and marketing strategies will make your marketing more compelling and generate an increase in customer enquiries and sales conversions. The power of these direct, personal messages in your marketing will lead to a dramatic increase in your sales results - an easy five step process in how to increase sales.
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