You need new customers, repeat customers and more sales in order for your business to
grow and profit. In most companies, even a five percent sales improvement will have a
positive effect on the bottom line. If a business doesn’t grow its sales volume, it
will become stagnant. Rarely does a company that maintains the same sales volume year
after year thrive. Some such companies go out of business because market share is captured
by competitors.
Planning for sales growth should be an ongoing activity. Progress to reach sales goals
should be measured monthly.
A one month drop in sales can be corrected, a three month downturn is much more
difficult to remedy before year end. Examine your sales records to identify sales trends.
Do certain products and services sell particularly well? Are there other products or
services that don’t move at all. Do you see seasonal variations in sales? Your sales
goals should be set based upon indicators of past performance. Do you get most of your
sales at the beginning or end of the month? How does weather affect your customer traffic?
Is your sales force pulling in sufficient sales justify its cost? These considerations
figure in to what your goals are and how you time the deadlines for achieving sales goals.
Study your customers. Identify the age, income level, education level and where
possible buying triggers of your clients. When you can clearly define your customer
audience, you can develop marketing approaches that will be better able to reach those
audiences. Can you increase market penetration among these customers? Are there other
untapped demographics you can identify to build an additional customer base? Talk to your
suppliers. They are involved in the industry and are often an excellent source of
information and ideas. Also talk directly with your customers. Maintain a close enough
relationship to day-to-day operations that you can interact with and ascertain what your
customers value, because they tell you personally.
If you’ve done all your homework, then experience, judgment and imagination will
help you develop sales strategies to increase sales volume by focusing on retaining
existing customers and increasing the per customer sale; gaining new customers who add to
your sales volume; and by identifying and gathering new customers that can help bridge
gaps created by customer defections. Some customers are one-time buyers. Be prepared to
constantly seek out new business that can help increase overall sales volume.
If you would like advice on sales trend evaluation, informal customer research, sales
goal setting or sale force motivation, contact the SCORE Association (Service Corps of
Retired Executives). More than 12,000 volunteer, business counselors donate their time to
counsel and mentor entrepreneurs. SCORE, a nonprofit organization, has assisted more than
3.5 million entrepreneurs. Counseling and mentoring are confidential and free of charge.
For a referral to the SCORE chapter nearest you, call 1 (800) 634-0245.
