However, discovering how to make the perfect sale has been a dilemma and argument among professionals for almost as long as business has existed. What one person recommends, another disagrees with. While one sales trend is popular now, it might not be popular in a few years. Things can get confusing. Fortunately, there are some foolproof sales tips every business professional should know. Check out these seven sales suggestions for small businesses.

1. Know your audience.

Like marketing, knowing your audience is vital to a successful sales strategy. While this might seem obvious, many professionals rush into a sale without fully understanding what their prospects want or need. Take time to identify who you’re selling to, what their potential needs are and ask the right questions to truly know your audience.

2. Be authentic.

Prospects can smell a fishy salesman from a mile away, which is why authenticity is key to a successful sale. You have to fully know and care about your product or service, and what it can do for the customer. Have a genuine desire to help the customer, more than simply wanting to hit your quota. When a prospect believes you’re authentic, they’ll be more inclined to buy.

3. Build relationships.

When you focus on a one-time deal, your efforts are short-sighted, and could hurt potential sales opportunities in the long run. Instead, consider building substantial relationships with customers, so they will want to come back again and again. While customer acquisition is necessary, customer retention truly makes businesses succeed.

4. Understand sales cycle.

Knowing the sales cycle is crucial to an effective sales person, because it makes the process more manageable and less overwhelming. The Balance says, “Get familiar with the seven stages of the sales cycle that go from prospecting to asking for referrals from the new customer, and begin to systemize the process.”

5. Create the elevator pitch.

An elevator pitch is always a useful tool to have in your back pocket for sales. The more comfortable you are delivering a summary of who you are and what the company does, the more sales you will make. Sit down to write out your elevator pitch, then rehearse it to perfection so you can use it over and over again.

6. Teach something new.

With everything customers can spend their money on, you need to find something that sets your business apart from the crowd. For example, teach them something. Bring something new to the table that actually teaches the prospect different or missing information about their business or personal life. Not only will they appreciate it, but they’ll even try your product.

7. Use technology.

Technology isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so why not use it to your advantage throughout the sales process? For instance, a CRM tool can track your email open rates to let you know who out of the prospects has opened your cold email more than once since receiving it. Evaluate the tools and tech at your company and see how you can use them in sales.

With any small business, sales are crucial to success. When it comes right down to it, you need customers, and closing a sale brings them in. If you want to boost your strategy, keep these seven sales suggestions in mind and see how your bottom line can grow.

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Ask any small business owner, and they will tell you: it’s much more costly to acquire a new customer than to retain and grow a current customer. However, many companies still place a huge emphasis on obtaining new customers through sales, marketing and advertising, yet pay little attention to their actual customer retention strategies. Businesses promote the sale, make the sale and then leave their customer behind, blowing in the wind. 

Customer retention should not only be high on your list of priorities, but it should require actual strategies. Fortunately, there are ways to keep your current clients happy, satisfied and coming back for more. Here are six tips for better customer retention.

1. Follow through on your sales pitch.

The quickest way to lose a customer is to make a promise in a sale, then not follow through once the client has signed on. While it might seem simple, many businesses often fall short on following through with their initial sales pitch. Instead, carefully track and record what sales persons include in their conversation, so clients never feel deceived. 

2. Set realistic expectations.

As you walk potential clients through your products or services, set realistic expectations for both yourself and the business. For instance, customers might become upset because they believe the business can deliver on X results immediately, when in reality those results could take months. By clearly setting expectations, clients understand exactly what they sign up for.

3. Create perks in the customer experience.

Customers love feeling appreciated, so be intentional about creating perks throughout the customer experience. For instance, if a customer buys a set of business cards from a company, the organization could throw in a perk for the customer with a free card holder. Small gestures like this create a positive customer experience. 

4. Establish a loyalty program.

When in doubt, a customer loyalty program is always a great way to increase retention rates. These programs reward your loyal customers for shopping with you by giving them incentives to keep coming back. Once clients opt-in to the loyalty program, be sure to give them the royal treatment with special deals, discounts and free prizes.

5. Experiment with email strategies.

Email marketing plays a huge role in customer retention, which is why it’s important to consistently experiment with your email strategies and see which ones clients respond to best. Discover which email strategy increases customer engagement so you can better tailor the content and product recommendations to keep customers coming back. 

6. Communicate regularly.

Finally, be sure to communicate regularly with current clients. Check in to see how they enjoyed the product or service they purchased, and share with them any upcoming deals or opportunities to try new items. Utilize an effective system for tracking and reporting customer metrics, so you can be in consistent communication whenever customers need it.

Businesses know it’s much more cost-effective to keep a current customer happy than to acquire a new customer. This is where customer retention strategies come in. Keep these tips in mind for retaining your top customers and see how your business grows because of it.

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