Hit that sales target with ease

For the purpose of this writeup we shall be using the word “seller and manufacturer” interchangeably.

Often times products or services being purchased by consumers can be difficult if the right strategy is not well crafted and knitted to give the desired boost needed.

Before diving into these steps highlighted below, it’s important to note that not adopting a strategy to boost your sales, in itself is a strategy already adopted for failure.

There is always a buyer desiring your product or services but the challenges associated with getting the attention of your buyer or targeted audience, all boils down to some few steps listed below-

Selling Tips:

i)   Discover your targeted audience

ii)  Build strong customer relations at all time

iii)  Showcase limited quantities but with great value

iv)  Use countdowns and be strategic

v)   Do a detailed product description

vi)  Make your brand attractive with colours and good image, pictures should be clear precise and attractive

vii) Finally, margins

These steps when properly implemented becomes the silver-lining to a difficult beginning in any sales prospect. As much as hitting your first sales could be difficult, it eventually becomes fun immediately you are able to achieve it.

i) Discover your targeted audience:

Most products suffer due to improper plaining and targeting. A random placement of products or advertising of services can make a whole promising venture turn out negative. Identifying the reasons or motive behind any product, right from the point on conceptualization, will eventually have a great impact on the final outcome in the market.

Most sales personnel will rather choose to carry out a market survey of what is intended to be produced, manufactured or requested from manufacturer before undertaking an order of such product for sale to the final consumer who invariably Is the buyer.

When factors like, age distribution, season, religious beliefs and culture just to mention but few are not given consideration before choice of sale and production request made, then the seller plans to fail automatically.  It is no doubt that some products rot away on shelves of vendors or ecommerce site due to improper prospecting, resulting to evidential failure at the end.

How ever a seller intends to carry out his/her sales it is imperative that targeted audience are given consideration as this will immediately address issues associated with poor traffic on the site and zero or no patronage to the goods. I would say give this aspect a good attention and setup a think tank where possible to carry out a good survey aimed at addressing this challenge, as it has capacity to wreck the entire effort of a seller.

ii) Build strong customer relations at all time:

Success in itself is about relationship, every human endeavour goes with good relationship, nations of the world thrive on good relationship.

Good customer relationship is a driver to the success of any intended business. Why must we seek out good customer relationship when we feel that the product design has met all standards desiring of buyers? Reasons are clear and simple; some products turn out to be complimentary and instantly posses a challenge to your intending sales margin or target. Where products become complimentary, it is difficult to pull through without good customer relation. Often time businesses have shot down owing to this factor. As often said a buyer is often right, meaning take out the time to give a buyer every necessary attention desiring in other to close that sale.

Customer relations commences right from the gate of the organisation, to the last desk, relating to the sale for some organisations and right from the landing page of an organisation website for online businesses. So, you don’t win it when at the final desk but at the entrance gate of the seller’s premises same is applicable to websites.

Some websites can be confusing and difficult to navigate, specifics become difficult to access and this experience makes the buyer bored, without wasting time leaves the site.

Sellers should endeavour to make their websites less cumbersome but rather user-friendly, as this keeps the buyer glued to the site, spend more time and could very likely make a choice of another product if what was intended can’t be found on the site.

In general customer relations is not mainly about out band calls to prospecting clients or B2B alone. There has to be genuine commitment demonstrated towards the buyer from the seller and this can be reflected in everything that sums up an organisations ethics.

Summarily, the entirety of the success of an organisation selling to a buyer is knitted around good customer relations at all level.

iii) Showcase limited quantities but with great value:

This strategy, enables buyers to go for your product with the view that the product could be out of stock any moment, hence becoming scarce. While it is of great importance to demonstrate great product availability to enable for the consumers (buyers) confidence, it is obvious that volume of purchases can easily be affected as buyers tend to relax given that there is, enormous quantity available.

So little of everything on the shelve can spur rush in purchases.

iv) Use of countdowns and be strategic:

  I have seen this work. This triggers great response from buyers. When countdown is activated it should remain so and not adjusted. Buyers should be made to understand that the countdown is what it is and that it ends at the specified time. When products are on countdown it becomes synonymous as sales as this comes with a level of discount that is noticeable by the buyer.

          Countdowns has helped spur purchases significantly thereby improving on sales output. Equally, countdowns on products should be done within the period of significance, where such products still have value. Often time buyers tend to cash in on items that they feel could be of immediate significance to them than those of no immediate value. The world thrives around   innovation and most research and development department (R&D) of organizations keep improving on what they feel should be the new driver of the next phase hence the need for innovation, so always keep this in mind.

v) Do a detailed product description:

The first point of call for the sale of any product begins with its description, especially for those products on display. The initial attraction to any product originates from its description.

Products appear clumsy and difficult to sell when the description does not meet minimum standard for buyer’s comprehension. Language barriers, cultural beliefs and religious background could hamper a product sale, if not properly addressed descriptively.

It becomes imperative that sellers should pay attention to this specific factor as it will improve on the sales volume significantly.

Symbols clearly displayed on product significantly builds consumer confidence, as most buyers sometimes look out for just the product flag in other to be certain that they are on right track to getting the right product from the seller.

Clear and precise description that is eligible for everyone to read is advised to avoid waste of time, in struggling to comprehend what is written or make meaning out of it.

It is therefore of immense value to the seller that he/she gives this aspect all needed attention, as this aspect equally affects manufacturers as they are the first line of reference when it comes to definition of what the product content is.

vi) Make your brand attractive with colours and good image, pictures should be clear precise and attractive.

 Take out time to build attraction around your products or services. Typically, every brand comes first as a product before achieving the status of a brand.

What the owner of a product shapes it to, will automatically get the product the required market penetration in other to achieve status. Ensue that the colours of your product are not just bright and attractive but should depict a message, which will give the buyers sense of attraction and reasons to buy. When the colours of a product are less attractive, it results to low patronage and poor revenue base for the organisation.

The pictures and libelling of the product should be welcoming to the consumer and straight to the point without ambiguity, clarity of purpose is essential.

Like earlier emphasized, product aesthetics are frame works necessary for its success. And this aspect sums it all.

vii)  Margins

Profiteering is one of the major reasons behind most businesses. It is a simple fact that any business that has no profit margin is bound to fail.

The issue around margins for any product can have direct effect on the product either positively or negative. I have seen good products with great market strategy designed to immediately penetrate into consumers space, end up collapsing. 

It becomes important that a seller pursuing quick sales and immediate return on investment should address the aspect of margin. Turn-over in business at a very short time is greatly recommended for any serious-minded individual seeking growth especially in small scale businesses.

What then should be considered adequate margin to drive sales volume? Just a fraction can do it. A very minimal fraction from the cost price of the product is all that is required and over-time, turn over will drive the revenue base to a much better level.

I know this strategy works better and gives the seller window to woo more customers.

With less margin an SME can comfortably compete and survive in a very hostile and demanding business environment.

If you have intention of hitting those anticipated targets, drive the sales margin to a needed pedestal and get maximum result from your product and services, think no other way around, adopt the above listed steps, which has delivered much needed results.

Achieving sales target, is such an easy process when the right steps are adopted. What keeps a business afloat is the number of deals sealed.

Am convinced that these steps highlighted above can turnaround the any struggling sales outlet that has clear determination to succeed.

Similarly, persistence is the ultimate aim. When an owner of a business presses forward, exert the right impact on the business certainly result is achievable.

Timing is also essential, as all business activities squarely rest on proper timing, I shall be looking at this aspect and mentoring next, as it is germane to the entire strategy implementation.