If you are looking to grow your business in 2023, you’ll need a solid sales strategy to rely on to hit your target. But when it comes down to devising a sales plan on a limited budget, you might face more than one challenge.
Luckily, by introducing a few best practices, you can reach your sales goals while keeping your cash flow healthy. In this guide, you’ll find all you need to know to smash your sales target in 2023!
Before You Start: Be Clear on Your Goals
The first – and non-negligible! – step is to determine your growth goals. Indeed, addressing your sales goals simply by striving to “close more sales” or “grow your revenue” will not get you far!
Instead, decide on clear sales metrics and set goals that are measurable, well-defined, time-bound, specific, and relevant. Some valuable key performance factors you should consider monitoring include revenue by product or service, market penetration, customer lifetime value (LTV), Net Promoter Score (NPS), cost of selling, and win rate.
Create a Schedule and Use Automation
The world of sales is composed of many tasks, aspects, and nuances. And, if you are looking to reach your sales goal for the year, you’ll need to follow a well-defined calendar of activities that are essential to your strategy’s success.
Platforms such as Asana can help you coordinate your team, but don’t forget to also use automation tools for repetitive or time-consuming tasks to optimize the allocation of your resources.
Invest in a Solid Marketing Strategy
For most small businesses, marketing expenditures are a sore point. After all, marketing is essential to generate leads and close sales but, without a “one-size-fits-all” formula that can be used, advertising campaigns can quickly become a financial liability.
Nonetheless, not investing in marketing can cause you to lag behind the competition. Indeed, according to studies by Deloitte reported by the Wall Street Journal, companies are now investing 13.6% of their total budget on marketing, a much higher portion compared to previous years.
Just make sure to work with an experienced professional who can guide you in the process and design an ad hoc, winning marketing campaign.
Get Involved With Your Local Community
For small businesses or brick-and-mortar organizations, the local community represents a lifeline. Indeed, without the support of local and loyal consumers, businesses will struggle to grow and remain competitive over time.
If you are looking to improve your reputation and close more sales, a great strategy is to get involved with the local community. For example, you should consider taking part in charitable initiatives or taking on an active role in the support and improvement of your community.
Although this might not directly lead to increased sales, it can certainly help you improve your reputation and become an essential pillar of the local economy.
Use Referrals and Online Reviews for Your Advantage
Today more than ever, consumers are seeking social proof during their buying decision-making process. Although the majority start their search process by asking for recommendations from family and friends, other tools used by today’s consumers include online reviews and testimonials, as well as suggestions by influencers and celebrities.
Make sure to invest in creating an efficient referral program for your products or services and focus on generating positive word of mouth.
Equip Yourself With Sales Enablement Tools, i.e.: Lead411
Technology can play an important part in helping you smash your sales goals – don’t underestimate the importance of innovating your systems and processes!
If in doubt, consider investing in CRM systems and use sales enablement tools. For example, resources such as Lead411’s extensive research can give you insights into recent trends, ZoomInfo’s pricing, and tools that should be essential in any marketer’s toolkit.
Provide Value to Your Audience and Become a Thought Leader
Another strategy to increase your sales this year and achieve your growth goals is to become a thought leader in your field. From hosting successful webinars to providing your audience with resources, suggestions, and guidance for free, there are plenty of ways to deliver added value to prospective buyers and leads.
In a period when users’ trust levels in brands are at an all-time low, this strategy can help you become a reliable go-to source of knowledge, which can help you win over the loyalty of consumers.
Leverage Free Tools Such As Social Media
Developing a sales strategy on a budget is all but easy – especially if you are looking to compete against larger businesses or companies with a much broader range of resources and tools.
Nonetheless, if you are clear about the sales goals you wish to reach this year, you should look into the free and accessible tools available to you. For example, you might consider setting up a store on well-established platforms such as Etsy and Amazon Marketplace, or you could take advantage of social media platforms’ marketplaces and shopping features.
If in doubt, consider working with your social media manager to create a cohesive sales strategy.
Work With Experienced Sales Professionals
Lastly, don’t forget that the experience and knowledge of a sales professional might prove invaluable in this scenario. While you might be more than comfortable wearing many hats every single day at work, running a business isn’t a one-person job!
Outsourcing your sales activity might be a great investment that allows you to refocus your time and energy toward crafting a long-term business strategy – and it can hone your competitive edge in the sales department!
