4 Tips to Meet Your Sales Goals.
Running a business is tough, and even as you become more familiar with the ups and downs of sales seasons, it can still catch you off guard when you come up short in a given month.
The best way to meet your sales goals every month or quarter, is to seize the opportunity to learn as much as you can about your company during the slow times and plan to implement changes to prevent them from happening again later.
As you business grows, you’ll no doubt be hit with some less than ideal months. Every business, big and small, has sales quotas that they need to reach in order to remain operational.
The most prepared businesses have some float (money stashed away for the tough times), but not every business can afford to do that.
If you fall into the second category, try some of these techniques to meet your sales goals and regain control toward your monthly target.
1. Touch Base with Clients and Customers
Regardless of the industry you work with, you should have some kind of contact or email list that you can draw on when things get slow.
You might offer a sale or coupon for a new product, or revive an old product that sold well during slow times of the month.
Sending an email, or advertising on social media is a great way to bring your customers back in line and increase your chances of making a sale.
2. Ask for Referrals
You might think that the days of asking for referrals are gone, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, many companies negotiate referral contracts in which they’ll scratch your back if you scratch their back.
Reach out to some clients or partner companies to ask for referrals to boost sales as the end of the month approaches.
3. Hold an Open House or Special Event
If your company is strictly online and you have a bit of a following, consider holding a special open house of “VIP” customers only event where you can offer products to people in person.
If you are a service-based business, consider holding a training session for your clients and offer them discounts on products as a result of taking the training session.
Remind them that you are here and ready to help them make their businesses and lives better.
4. Plan for It
Of course, the best way to manage slow sales is to avoid them altogether and plan for them.
Whether that means keeping money in an account to be able to make payroll or bankrolling a line of credit for the “just in case” moments, it’s your responsibility to make sure operations go undisturbed even when things are slow.
So as you start your planning for another quarter of business, remember that it’s great to daydream about how you are going to spend all your money, but it’s important to plan for the slow times.
Consider the ways you can increase your sales ahead of time and continually create a pipeline of business coming your way so that you don’t panic when things slow down.
That’s all on the 4 Tips to Meet Your Sales Goals.
