Ideas to help increase sales.

If you find that you lack sales here are a few ideas that work for us. 

First of all we have made this mistake in the past and I bet that many other business people have as well. The mistake is when your business is very busy you cut back on  marketing. Then when the work starts to slow you hit the marketing hard to fill the short fall in sales. What we have learnt is to always keep marketing even when busy as its easier to keep the work enquiries coming in.

Make sure that you get out there, the more people who know what you do the more chance of getting business, this is both in the virtual world ie on www.twitter.com , www.facebook.com 

www.linkedin.com and face to face with networking. Over the years we have picked up new clients from networking events held by the likes of www.dncc.co.uk  www.ecademy.com 

www.4networking.biz . 

With networking in general remember it is not about selling it is about building trust and relationships.

Networking in my opinion is like gardening, you have to plan what you are going to do, then sow the seeds.Then nurturing the seeds so that they grow into long term harvest of opportunities.

Advertising, well this is a massive area but you can spend a lot of money and get very little pay back. You need to first of all set a budget and look what customers you want.

We have found that in general advertising in printed directories ie yellow pages have had their day. This more so if you sell business to business, most people now use  www.google.co.uk for details of new suppliers, services or products.

If you sell business to consumer then in printed directories your advert can get lost. If you are selling for example insurance unless you have a very big budget your advert will be lost against all the big brands.

As for newspaper advertising, well most local papers are like "one night stands", ie one quick hit and gone. Most local newspapers are read by older readers and in general are losing readership.

Have you put a referral scheme in your business? If you have happy customers they can become a great sales force to promote your business. Don't be affaid to ask for a referral.

A good thing that we have found in getting involved in your community ie local football, rugby hockey clubs etc, or local charities.This helps build local trust and often you get to meet people who in normal business world you have no chance getting past the reception desk to talk to them.

A method that we have done and a lot of or clients have done especially if they are a startup business on a very tight budget is to do what we call "the shoe leather challenge".  So you ask what is that then? Well we design and produce say 5000 full colour flyers with an offer on them. Then the client with family and friends go out on a Sunday to distribute the flyers. 

The reason to do it on a Sunday that if you are selling to B2C market, people on a Sunday at home are going to be more receptive as they are relaxed, they are also not expecting anything to come through their letterbox. If you think about in the week they get in from work pick up all the post and any leaflets, so your offer or message is lost in all the bills and post.

Increasing sales is about having a long term plan based on good communication, building trust, relationships and offering the right products, service at a cost effective price. Building sales in my opinion should not be built on just price. As we have found you can end up having customers who are price lead are not loyal.

Hope you have found this of interest.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Mike Handley

Do your business cards work for you?

Do your business cards work for you?

Is it something that you're proud of? Does it clearly inform people what your business does? Are they stylish and visually appealing?

I have seen over the years at networking events, meetings, etc so many business cards that people have given to me that just do not work to enhance their business profile or brand. 

Often they have got the cards free from a website that are printed on thin board in the wrong typeface and with no style.

A business card is one of the most cost-effective marketing tools a business can have. A well-designed professional looking business card can effectively promote your business. 

Your business card design must inform people what you do. How often do you look in business card holders with cards that were given to you say 6 months ago and you cannot remember what that person does? 

The design needs to leave the right feel and clearly defines what your business does so you will not be soon be forgotten.

How many times have you seen a business cards when someone puts the title of say “consultant” but with explaining on the card what they do. They may be a medical consultant, a tax consultant or farming consultant. Would you want a farming consultant to see you for a medical issue?

So a few pointers to think about on the design of you business cards:-

1. Use the right colours that are fresh and not dated.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Use a typeface that is clear and not boring, in my opinion Times New Roman is a big no no.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Make sure that you use both sides of the business cards, you are paying for the board so why have a blank back. On the reverse add may be photo images of products or a picture of the outside of you shop or bar. You can add key feature and benefits of what your business, products or services offer. May be add a map and directions to your company. What about adding a calendar on the back then at least it has 365 days of use. If you run a business that makes appointments add an appointment reminder on the back. You can add a discount offer or refer a friend voucher.
   
   
   
   
   
4. If you really want to make an impact go for a folding business card then you can create a mini brochure.

When you are happy with the design have the cards printed on the right board weight, 400 gsm is a great board weight as it feels thick and impressive.

Look at the finish of the cards, gloss laminated or matt laminated. At the moment my favourite finish is luxury matt laminated with a little spot uv varnish, it's like adding shiny highlights that enhance your message.

When you have got you business cards printed then get them out there. Leave them in bars, restaurants, garages, at client receptions etc. Stick them on notice boards. Give out two at a time and ask to forward onto a friend that may be interested in your product or service.

So please remember that your business card is your little secret sales and marketing tool. If you get it right it will help you win more business.

If you have a website when did you last review it?

Do you have a website for your business?

If you don't you may be missing out on new business and marketing opportunities.

If you do have a website when did you last review it?

Was it about 5 years ago when your site went live to the world. If so I bet that it has got incorrect and out of date information on the site.

So what do you do, re-design the site or start again with a new site?

Before you start you need to consider what you want the site to do.
Is it to be a simple web advert or a brochure of what your business offers. Do you want to sell products or services on line?

Are you going to update the site yourself? If so you want to have a user friendly back end CMS (content management system). This will allow you to keep the site up to date and add pages etc.

All the content, images and information on the site should be relevant, interesting and up to date.

Old information, products and offers send out the wrong message to your customers. In my opinion it shows that you are not bothered about your brand/business.

Your website layout should be user-friendly with the interface and navigation being simple and reliable. How often when you go to a site that takes along time to load so you just click and go.

The appearance of your site graphics and text should be professional, appealing and relevant. Include a style that flows and you need to follow all your other marketing and branding material. This will show consistency. 

If you write the copy for your website make sure that it has the right keywords that are relevant to your product or services that you offer. This will help customers find your site when they use search engines like Google.

When you are setting up the site add a news page, a blog, links to twitter and facebook etc. Keep the news, blog, twitter etc up to date as search engines like sites that are kept fresh with new information.

Add links from your website to other sites that are interesting and relevant. For example trade and professional bodies ie Gas safety if you are a plumber or local attractions if you are a hotel or B&B. Ask for links back to your site.

With links don’t make the mistake of just adding lots of links that are not relevant as this does not help with search engines and can send out the wrong message to your customers.

Make sure that you add your web address to all your stationery and marketing material. If you have company cars or vans put the website on them

If you would like us to review your site or design you a new site please give me a call. A content management system website designed to work for you start from £950.00 plus vat.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Regards

Mike Handley

Graphic results

01773 599159