Here are a few things you can do to help increase your 2022 sales.
1. Focus On Current Customers
Acquiring new customers is essential to your company's growth, but focusing on retaining your current customers while enticing them to spend more with your organization helps make the most of your marketing budget.
Research shows that onboarding brand new customers costs five times more than keeping the customers already using your services. Excellent customer service is key to harnessing the power of positive reviews, but 60 - 80% of customers may never make another purchase in the absence of consistent marketing to keep your services top-of-mind.
Your current customers may provide an additional powerful marketing tool, as well. Positive reviews and word-of-mouth can help you bring in new customers while simultaneously increasing your average order value (AOV).
Your company can leverage the loyalty of your current customer base by focusing on retention rates. Increasing your customer retention rates by 5% could increase profits by 25% to 95%.
2. Use Strategic Marketing To Increase Sales
Your marketing plan should reflect your company's new sales goals, and using your funds and resources strategically can help you get the most value for your marketing dollar.
One of the most effective ways to increase the perceived value of your services is to use digital marketing to connect with your current customers. One recent study shows that you may be able to make a significant impact on your future sales by leveraging these common marketing tactics:
How Marketers Use Online Channels
Customer Retention
- Mobile Messaging (text marketing) : 58%
- Email: 52%
- Mobile Apps: 44%
- Social Media Marketing: 28%
Customer Acquisition:
- Paid Search: 86%
- Online Display Advertising: 85%
- SEO (Natural Search): 66%
- Web Retargeting: 61%
3. Improve Internal Sales Processes
The sales force is a powerful marketing tool for many service-providing organizations. A salesperson's primary focus is building relationships with current and potential customers. Their day-to-day interactions with prospects and how they leverage your organization's technology contribute to the success of the salesforce. Customer relationship management (CRM) training can empower your salespeople through technology as they work toward their individual and team annual sales goals. When their utilization of the tool expands and increases, they can better manage their accounts and territories.
CRM training can help salespeople make the most of their tools and skills. Even experienced salespeople are life-long learners, and additional training can help support the efforts of a critical division of your company.
4. Leverage The Power Of Marketing Automation
Another way to improve internal sales processes while creating a more effective and efficient plan is by utilizing modern marketing automation tactics. Following up with and nurturing prospects throughout their buying journey is key to supporting a salesperson's efforts. Acquiring new customers is no easy task. When your company plans to provide automated support, salespeople no longer have to spend precious time handling mundane yet necessary tasks.
5. Focus On Customer Service
Happy customers fuel an organization's growth, and your company's customer service practices support client satisfaction. Current customers who encounter minor problems form their opinion about your organization as a whole and decide whether to become repeat customers based on their interaction with your customer service and sales teams. A fast response that provides a satisfactory result supports a customer's decision to do business with your company again. Formerly dissatisfied clients who experience excellent customer service are likely to tell their friends and colleagues the story.
Customer perceptions improve when you respond to their complaints and resolve the problem in an open forum like an online review site.
Here's how responding (or not responding) to reviews could affect your company's sales during the coming year:
- Nearly half of customers say they are more likely to do business with a company that responds quickly to negative reviews.
- 94% of consumers admit that they've avoided a business due to a bad review.
- 63% of consumers who've left a bad review online for a business say they never received a response.
- More than half of consumers say they expect a response from a business after they leave a bad review.
Review sites like Yelp, Facebook, and Google provide your customers with a platform to air their grievances. In many cases, customers do not contact a company directly before telling their story online. For this reason, it's crucial to monitor online review sites and respond quickly to both negative and positive reviews.