The Top 5 Ways To Increase Sales

Want to know the real secret to attracting more customers and sales this year?

You don’t need a course on selling, you don’t even need a book on selling.

All you need to ramp up your sales this year is….one or two good ideas is all you need if you use them consistently. I’ve included my top 5 below.

1. Get on Your Soapbox: A solid brand position is rooted in a passionate commitment to the customer. What do you believe about your industry, product or service? What’s your customer’s burning issue and in what ways does your company solve it. Write out your soapbox points on a list – aim for 52 – then you’ll have a message a week to share with your customers!

2. Build Your Lists: You probably have some kind of customer list (or three) laying around. This is the year to combine these names into a single customer list. Start with a basic spreadsheet and then start grouping your customers into segments or categories. Now do the same with your prospects. Having one, updated master list will make communicating with customers fast and easy.

3. Use Videos: If you have a product or service that shines in demo mode, then videos are an ideal and cost-effective marketing tool for you. Open a corporate YouTube account and upload demos and live presentations for your prospects to find and customers to access.

4. Productize Your Services: It’s much easier to understand and purchase something that looks like a product. Notice that even software downloads or e-books actually look like a tangible product so that people can have a sense of what they are purchasing. Turn your service into a product by giving it a name, describing your process as a specification and then charging a flat rate instead of by the hour. You’ll find that it’s easier to sell, easier to buy and more profitable for your business.

5. Mobile Marketing: Globally twice as many people use text messaging as e-mail. Chances are your customers interact more with their PDA than they do with their computer. Mobile Marketing Programs allow your customer to opt-in and request certain kinds of messages and updates from you. If you’re a restaurant, use mobile marketing to update customers on specials. Mobile marketing is currently a wide-open space. Use it to market to hard-to-reach customers.

So which do you plan to focus on first?