There’s only 3 Ways to grow your business

Now we all know there are only three ways to grow a business. There are many ways of making profits, but, I am going to be concentrating on growing a business. So, let me remind you of the three ways.

1. Increase the number of customers that one has. The law of attrition says that you will lose a percentage of customers each year, despite how superb or brilliant your service and its product line may be, sadly people die, they move away or they change their buying habits, so one must always be striving for new customers.

2. Increase the average transaction value whatever that may be. If it is currently £4.50, can you increase that to £5.00?

3. Increase the frequency of purchase. If somebody buys from you once a month, can you get them to buy once a week? If they buy once a week, can you get them to buy twice a week? And to sum this process up, it is essential therefore to provide exceptional customer service, because one thing is certain, the competition is trying to take your customers away from you, as you should be endeavouring to take customers from elsewhere.

So, whether one likes it or not, all those three ways have one crucial function and that is the skills and the ability of the staff to sell.

For too long now, the word selling has carried a stigma, but let me remind you that nothing in the world happens until a sale takes place and the seller brings in the money that everybody else can eventually live off.

Good professional selling today is built upon building long-term relationships and has nothing to do with the outdated, obnoxious sales practice of making people buy things that they didn’t want or need.

To maintain long-term customer loyalty, one must therefore concentrate on inter-reaction and communication. Let me list through a few key reminders:

* You must make it easy for people to buy.
* You must be enthusiastic and positive.
* You must be knowledgeable – customers these days want to talk to people who know what they are talking about, they want best possible advise, so it is essential to have good product knowledge, and that is totally different from sales skill training.
* You should exhibit and demonstrate some passion for the business and its products.

Now let’s come down to the most important skill exhibited by the most successful sales people and that is: don’t tell but sell, and one sells by asking the right questions.

The more questions that a professional sales person asks, the more effective and easier it is to give the right advice and the right solution, and it makes the seller more able to recommend the right product. It also demonstrates to the customer interest. Let me clarify that. There is the wonderful saying that says: to be an interesting person all one has to do is to be interested, and when one shows genuine interest in a customer, one can develop a long-term relationship.

Now to be convincing don’t sell the product, sell what it will do. People do not buy make-up because they want make-up, they buy it because they want the result – the beauty that the make-up provides.

Finally, let me remind you that price is important, yet unimportant. People will always find the money for the things they really, really want. The most successful supermarket in the United Kingdom is most certainly not the cheapest, the biggest selling motor car in Britain is most certainly not the cheapest. The vast majority of purchases are made upon what is termed value for money, and value for money can be rapidly enhanced by providing an outstanding service – the difference that really does make the difference.