Every commercial business, big or small, needs a comprehensive sales strategy. This helps you to effectively get your product out on the market again and again, sell consistently and sell more. When it comes to pitching your product to a sales team for a store, a reliable sales strategy process is key, once you discover what works, of course! Although your strategy should be part of any initial business plan, it’s only after you get out there and gain some experience that you can really hone your technique. So once your product is ready to be sold, it’s time to focus your energy on discovering how best to sell it. Here’s a handy guide on how to come up with a killer sales strategy that will see your sale numbers soar.
- Identify and focus on your target market – if you’re selling roller skates, approach a sporting goods shop. If you’re selling kitchen knives, pitch to a home-ware store. This perhaps sounds simple and was probably in your initial business plan but it’s still important to note. You need to sell your product in relevant environments. No one goes to ASOS to buy cat food, after all. By having your product alongside similar items, you’re guaranteeing that prospective customers in the shop are at least in the market for your product, automatically boosting the chance of a sale. Also, if you did turn up at ASOS with a new flavour of organic cat food, you’d be laughed out of the meeting room.
- Be prepared – if you go into a sales pitch and can’t answer any questions the potential buyers may ask, you’re not creating the best first impression. Make sure you know your own business plan inside out and have all the relevant facts and figures in your head. And although your sales strategy should be fairly standard, each pitch needs to be tailored for each meeting. Research who you’re pitching to, look at what products they already stock, what they sell most of, and perhaps what their stores lack. If you’re prepared, confident, and able to say exactly why your product should be in their store, they’ll have no choice but to be impressed.
- Commit to your claims – if you say you can supply 50 units in one week, do it. Your business plan should clearly illustrate your delivery capacity so don’t overstretch it, even if the buyers ask for more. Stick within your limits at any given time and be sure you can deliver what you promise. This not only impresses your clients and encourages them to buy from you again in the future but will also strengthen your reputation. Remember, most people will search for reviews or seek out references for a company or business before spending money on their products. Make sure your reviews are positive or you’ll be losing sales before you’ve even had a chance to prove yourself and your product.
- Track your sales – don’t just walk away once you’ve made a sale. Go back, gather feedback, take on board constructive criticism and try to find a way to improve your product. If you study what works and what doesn’t work in the early stages of your business, you should find yourself making fewer mistakes in the future, which can only be a good thing and serve to perfect your sales strategy. You also need to understand and monitor your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in order to help you develop your business plan, move forward and grow as a company.
Armed with these tips, it’s now time for you to settle down at your desk and come up not only with a sales strategy but also a sales projection outline. How many units are you going to sell next month? How many units are you going to sell next year? How long is it going to be before you open your own store and have other businesses, like yours now, coming to you and pitching their exciting new products?