An example could be a customer that is looking to buy a new lounge suite, you can not only offer to deliver the new lounge suite but also remove/trade-in the old one.

Thus, solving a problem for the customer.

Many companies are using this tactic from an “eco-friendly” point of view — either recycling or donating your old products.

Account Applications

Setting up accounts for your customers can aid in helping conversions.

It will allow you to send them marketing material on a regular basis, as well as keep them informed of special promotions and new products.

This tactic helps in establishing long term relationships are recurring purchases.

Customers will love it when they receive “special” discounts and earn loyalty points.

Allow Prepayment

Allowing customers to prepay for goods and services before they receive them can be a great way to increase sales.

This tactic works well for highly anticipated products like Pre-launched computer games, Tesla Cars, iPhone, etc.

Another example is going to the movies, if customers pre-book their tickets, they can avoid a line and get the seats you want.

Always have stock available

Businesses can increase their conversion rates by simply having products and services on hand and ready to go.

This is an inventory management solution. Just remember, every time a customer asks for a product, and you reply with “were currently out at the moment,” it’s a lost sale.

If you can’t provide the product on hand straight away, try to provide a (JIT) Just In Time Delivery Service where they can get the product in the shortest time possible.

Ask for the Sale, Confirm the Sale

When speaking to someone on the phone, it’s a great sales habit to “Confirm the sale.”

An example of this could be while talking to a customer;

“So, I have you down to five units, is that current?”.

This simple tactic conditions the customers towards the sale.

Ask Questions & Listen

Asking questions and listening to customers is a tactic that should go without saying.

Besides the fact that it makes the customer feel valued and respected, it also makes the conversation feel more natural and less salesy.

It’s important that you understand the customers’ needs and what they are looking for. Be sure to focus on the value the customer is after, not what you want to sell them.

Before & After Photo’s

Showing the results of what your product or service will do is really important for some customers.

Take for instance a weight loss product, or makeup.

Customers want to see photos of other customers who have used this product, and the results and benefits they can expect.

Collect All Prospects Details

A simple but sometimes overlooked tactic.

Ensure you, and everyone within your organization is collecting the contact details of all prospects.

Either phone, email or other.

It’s also a good idea to find out how they found out about your business and what product or service they are interested in.

Company Brochure & Business Cards

Company brochure and business cards are essential marketing materials that all businesses should have.

It’s important to remember that ALL members of your team are salespeople.

Ensure you have a constant supply of business cards and brochures for all team members to hand out at all times.

Brochures should contain your key offering, and how your product or service creates value.

Company Vehicle & Appearance

There are a lot of psychological selling aspects going on during the sales process. Your first impression and appearance are one of them.

If you have a service business or provide delivery, having an eye-catching vehicle can set you apart.

First impressions matter, so a branded vehicle can be a great extension to your brand.

Your company vehicle is mobile signage, and it will grab people’s attention, you’ll stand out and be much more memorable.

Competitions, with Follow-up

If your company runs a competition or raffle, it’s a good idea to follow up with everyone who entered into it.

It’s an easy way to create another ‘touch point’ and gives you the ability to ask vital questions that can help prospects move further down the sales funnel.

Create More Payment Options

A simple marketing tactic that requires you to take payment from customers in any payment form.

These include:

Cash
Cheque
Online Banking
Credit Card
PayPay (or other online payments)
Gift Cards
Bitcoin

The greater the payment options for the customer, the higher the conversion rates.

Define Your USP

Sales conversions can be increased when you can clearly define your uniqueness.

For this to happen, you need to understand (in great detail) why your products and services are unique when compared to those of your competitors.

To do this, you need to have a really good understanding of what your competitors are doing.

Examples could be: You offer free delivery, free installation, backup service etc.

Develop Your Own Product Line (White label)

Many manufacturing companies now allow companies to white label their own product lines.

This means businesses can now have products with their own logo and branding on it.

The advantage of this is it helps with your branding and allows you to differentiate yourself.

Creating exclusive lines enables to compete on quality and not on price.

Display Awards/Certificates

Displaying Awards and Certifications help you gain trust from customers as it builds your reputation and separates you from the crowd.

This is an effective way to pre-qualify you as an industry leader and expert. In some cases, people will only choose to work with professionals that have a certificate to prove his/her knowledge and skills.

Examples can be award-winning architects, builders or products like award-winning wines.

You can also use your awards and certification

As part of your marketing message, letting people know that you’ve won your industry “Best of the Year” or “Best in Service” award.

Educate How to Buy, What’s the Process

If you have a product or service that is either complicated or takes an extended period of time to deliver, it can be a great idea to educate prospects on the entire process.

An example of this could be getting a house built through a building company.

The entire process may take six months or more, and there may be 25 stages that the project needs to go through.

By having a detailed breakdown of the steps that are needed during the process, it helps the prospect understand the entire process and helps to breakdown resistance.

Educate on Value, Not Price

If you’re competing on differentiation (quality as opposed to price), you need to educate your customers on the Value your products and services generate.

Do this by articulating the results, outcomes or benefits the product will produce.

Move the conversation away from price, unless your product directly creates or saves the customer money.

An example could be LED lights.

They cost slightly more than regular lights, but they last 10x longer.

Email Marketing / Auto Responders

Email autoresponders are emails that are set up and delivered over a predetermined sequence.

An example of this could be: When someone signs up to your subscriber list, they will automatically receive five emails over the space of two weeks. These emails will provide the prospect with information, free tools, answer questions and build you as an expert authority and lead them further down your sales funnel.

Entertain, Wine & Dine

This tactic can work well for high-end products. An example of this could be a VIP mixer.

Companies like Mercedes-Benz host special VIP events when launching new models.

These events make customers feel special and help cement long-term relationships.

Factory/Site Tours

Having factory and site tours can be a great way to create engagement with customers.

It allows customers to gain insight into how the product is created.

This works especially well if you have an exciting manufacturing process.

Examples of this can include: Chocolate factories, winery, candle making, etc.

Flowchart Your Sales Process

It’s important to flowchart or diagram your sales process, as it shows the entire process from start to finish that your customer takes.

This allows you to identify and analyze the touch points through each step.

This can be used to find weak points or missed opportunities. It’s a great way to refine your customers user experience.

You can tweak your upsells, cross-sell, down sells and your conversion rates.

Follow Up & Follow Up Again

One of the great secrets of companies that have high conversion rates is that they continually follow up with customers.

It’s a great idea to always put the deal in front of the customer, and to stay in contact right through the buying process.

This is especially important for businesses that provide quotes or proposals. You need to follow up until a result is achieved.

Gift Voucher Towards Purchase

Gift vouchers can be a great way to encourage customers to shop with you.

By offering a voucher or store credit when they purchase a certain number of products or buy specific products, can help with conversion rates.

These types of tactics work well with memberships.

An example could be a points system that allows customers to accumulate points towards gift vouchers.

Gimmicks with Direct Mail

Direct mail is another traditional method of marketing. It has since died off some, but is still very effective if done correctly.

You can expect a response rate of between 1-3% depending on your message and audience. Extremely targeted lists can provide results well over 10%.

For best results, personalised mail will give you the greatest return. Creating gimmicks like putting something lumpy in the envelope will create intrigue.

Greet Prospects, Use Their Name & Introduce Yourself

When dealing with prospects or customers, it’s always best to use their name. It makes them feel important and respected.

Use a CRM to capture your customers’ details. If you don’t know their name, then ask.

And always be sure to introduce yourself and pass your card If needed.

High Dress Standards/Uniforms

A simple and effective way to increase your conversions.

Uniforms are another extension of your brand. Having well-dressed uniformed staff with name tags makes the customer experience easier to navigate.

Nothing is worse than going into a business and not knowing who the staff are.

It’s also a professional look when uniformed employees arrive at someone’s house with smart looking uniforms with name tags.

It gives people a feeling of trust, and that you know what you’re doing.

This tactic is cheap and easy. A real must have. Your team members look much more professional.

Hire Salespeople

If you have a business that could utilize salespeople, but you don’t want to take on the additional risk of employing someone, then commission-based salespeople could be useful.

Additionally, this tactic works well if you want to sell outside your geographical area, as you don’t necessarily need to supply an office.

It’s a results-based model that can work well depending on your product or service.

Increase Product Knowledge

An easy way to increase your sales conversion rates is to be an expert on product knowledge.

To achieve this, you’ll need to have regular training sessions with staff and sales reps to ensure you’re up to date with the latest industry changes.

A best practice is to collect feedback and questions from customers, then incorporate this information into your staff training sessions.

You can apply these to your website and other marketing materials also.

Increase Range or Variety

By simply increasing the range of products you have, you can dramatically increase your conversion rates.

Ensure you have great product intel data that shows you what products are leading in their class, then ensure you have those products.

Every product a customer asks for, that you don’t stock, is a lost sale.

If your selling services, offer a full range of complementary products.

For example: A restaurant can sell a range of branded signature sauces.

Information Sheets & Booklets

By providing detailed information sheets and booklets for your products and services, you’ll significantly increase your conversion rates.

Remember, prospects are continually reviewing and analysing products before they buy. You need to ensure they have all the information they need to make an informed decision.

Often, once a prospect has reviewed a product, and it meets their criteria of X, Y, Z. They will then purchase.

Ensure you have all the information and data likely customers will be looking for.

In-store Merchandising

In-store merchandising are a tactic used by companies that want to obtain placement within someone else’s retail store.

You’ll often see these stands in convenience stores, gas stations, and general retail outlets.

If you have a product that fits this criteria, having merchandise stands might be a great way to showcase your products to thousands of people each day.

This also enables you to sell your products in many locations without the overhead of renting spaces.

Kids Room, Snack Bars, Background Music & WiFi

If the nature of your business requires customers to sit and wait for extended periods of time, then having amenities that make things more comfortable for customers will go a long way.

This is especially true if customers have their small children with them.

An example of this might be a car mechanic. By having a play area for children, it means the parents will be more relaxed.

Landing Pages and Sales Funnels

A landing page is a mini-site or a specific page on your website that is used to engage with visitors that have come from your online marketing channels. i.e. PPC ads, social media etc.

You’ll need to have a compelling offer that directly relates to your campaign.

Popular landing page builders and sales funnel platforms are Clickfunnels, LeadPages and Thrive Themes.

They are easy to set up and enable you to track and measure different campaign content quickly.

Lighting, Clean Toilets, Air Conditioning

This basic tactic relates to making customers feel more comfortable and allowing them to stay longer in your store.

The longer they stay in your store, the higher the chance of a sale.

If you have customer toilets on your premises, ensure they are checked every 30mins or so.

Make an Offer

If you have a retail store, “Make an Offer” days could work well.

It gives people, the option to engage with you and haggle a deal.

The main tactic here is to get people through the door.

This tactic works best if you have products that have high margins; thus you have the ability to negotiate on price.

The Make an Offer tactic also works well when combined with other attractions or gimmicks.

You may want to have a free sausage sizzle at the same time.

Make it Easy to Buy

The easier it is to buy your product or services, the higher the conversion rates you’ll have.

If we look at this from an online perspective, the fewer the clicks it takes to complete the purchase, the better. Top e-commerce sites average 4-6 clicks to complete a purchase.

During the checkout phase of the purchase, you want your customers to be able to purchase as a guest. This will make purchasing easier and faster while reducing the abandonment rate.

Measure Conversion Rates

You can’t manage what you don’t measure!

Measuring your conversion rates (for all your products) is one of the most crucial initiatives you can do.

This can be done by way of using a CRM or Analytics software.

Companies that regularly measure their performance far outperform those that don’t.

Offer Home Delivery

For some customers, having the product delivered to their home will be enough to convert them.

This works especially well for bulky products or clients who are extremely busy. Additionally, you can offer assembly or installation to your range of services.

On-Hold Messages

On-hold messages are those recorded messages you hear when calling a company.

They can help with increasing your conversion rates as customers are more likely to stay on the line.

Good on-hold messages should include:

That you appreciate their call and will be with them shortly.
What caller number they are in the queue.
What is the expected waiting time before they can talk to you.
Offer alternative ways to contact you. i.e. Email, phone call back etc.

Outstanding Brochures

Brochures and E-Brochures are standard marketing materials that are used when someone your talking to wants something to take away with them.

There often used at tradeshows or retail stores when people ask after detailed product information.

Brochures are more effective than simply giving someone your business card.

Sending them electronically means you can cut costs and scale your marketing efforts.

Packaging

Product packaging is more than just how a product looks; it’s how it makes the customer feel.

It’s an incredibly valuable customer touch point that can’t be overlooked. Customers want to buy more than just the product; they want to buy an experience.

Your packaging needs to reflect your company values, and the ethos of what your company stands for. Packaging is part of the consumer journey.

Great packaging can make your product memorable and stand out from the pack.

Print Company’s Vision/Mission

Some prospects will be interested in your company’s ethos and what you stand for.

Print your companies Vision and Mission statements and display them on marketing material or in places where prospects can view them.

Prospects want to understand your values and see if they align with their own.

Very rarely will prospects be motivated to purchase if your company is solely motivated by profit.

Provide a 1st Buyers Incentive

A great way to entice new prospects to purchase from you is to offer a first buyers’ incentive.

This can take the form of a discount, free gift, or free month of a subscription, etc.

This tactic works well for long-term plans or subscription-based models.

If you have an online business, you can offer a special coupon for first-time purchases.

Provide a Timely Response

It’s important that when customers contact you, that you respond in the quickest time possible.

Whether that be by email, phone or in person, a timely response will always help in increasing your conversion rates.

If you’re in an office setting, have a rule that all phone calls must be answered within 3-4 rings.

Or if you’re out in the field, try using a Bluetooth Headset.

Provide Ideas & Advice

Providing free ideas and advice to customers gives you the ability to showcase your product or service, and highlight the value you offer.

This makes it much easier to sell. Conversion rates for businesses who willingly give advice and are genuinely helpful have a much higher closing rate.

Even if the product or service you sell is not suited to the customer, if you can provide ideas and advice that can help them, this will go a long way, and they will remember this.

It’s a great way to build your brand and develop trust within the industry.

Provide Team Incentives

A great way to increase your sales conversion rates is by setting up sales targets for the team with rewards.

This tactic not only helps with increased sales, but it’s also a fantastic tool to build team culture.

Team members will be more motivated to collaborate to achieve the common goal. Teams can build synergies to reach the goal and share in the rewards.

Re-write Quotes, Tenders & Proposals

If you have quotes or proposals that you have sent out.

One way to increase conversions is to not only follow up on the quote but also to find out where the prospect is in the sales process.

You may find that there is an opportunity to resubmit your quote or proposal and get a deal made with adjustments.

This tactic is rarely used, but you will be surprised how many additional sales you’ll be able to make.

Sales Scripts

Sales scripts are a piece of pre-planned marketing content that is used to help salespeople guide prospects through the buying process.

They can be used for sales calls, face to face meetings or presentations.

Sales scrips endeavor to highlight the need or benefit of the product/service while dealing with the barriers and objections.

Sell on Emotion & Dreams

Depending on your product or service, you may want to sell based off emotional drivers.

When selling on emotions, it’s not about value, price or the financial benefits that will result. It’s about selling the dream.

Examples are high-end luxury products such as; A new sports car, the latest phone, designer clothes, expensive watches.

These products are marketed in such a way, as to make the prospect feel they will receive a certain lifestyle if they purchase these goods.

Selling in Bulk

It’s a great idea to have a ‘volume” selling offer.

By giving discounts or other bonuses like free delivery or installation on bulk orders. You have the ability to move a lot more stock and generate a higher gross profit.

It helps you attract customers that are commercial or larger size clients you wouldn’t usually work with.

It also means you can move older, seasonal or unwanted stock in larger volumes.

Send SMS Appointment Reminders

Every business that requires people to make appointments knows how frustrating it is when you get “No Shows.”

By simply setting up an SMS appointment reminder platform, you will enviably decrease your No-Show rates, thus, improving your conversions.

SMS appointment reminders are very cheap but incredibly effective.

Set Sales Targets

To ensure sales conversion rates remain steady, or improve over time, it’s vital that you set sales targets and continually measure them.

If you have a number of steps within your sales process, you need to measure the performance of each of these steps.

An example could be: Calling all old customers who purchased within the last 12 months.

Or calling everyone who made an inquiry over the last six months.

Show Samples/Example Photo’s

A simple yet very effective way to increase your conversion rate is to show examples or photos of pervious work you have completed.

It gives you the opportunity to showcase your skills and experience. Prospects need to understand the value you provide, and sometimes visualizing the product or service may be all that is required to convert them.

Stay in Touch, Cards, Newsletters

Maintaining an existing relationship with a customer is cheaper and easier than finding new customers.

There are many ways to stay in touch with customers.

These include: Emails, Phone calls, Personalised Cards, Newsletters, Events, Gifts, Lunch & Learns, etc.

To keep this tactic well organized, incorporate it into your CRM.

Survey People Who Don’t Buy

Surveying people who don’t buy your products might seem like a strange marketing tactic. However, it can be a goldmine of useful insights.

You may have a clear understanding of why your customers buy from you (and that’s very important). But you also need to know why customers don’t buy from you.

If you develop a deeper understanding as to the reasons people don’t purchase, you can then go about solving those issues.

Solving these issues will inevitably result in higher sales figures.

Survey Your Past Customers

Conducting surveys on past customers is a great marketing tactic.

It not only allows you to gain a better insight into their customer experience, but it’s also a great touch point enabling you to reconnect with them.

This will help you with gaining market intelligence and where the industry is heading. You’ll better understand the industry trend and what opportunities are ahead.

Conducting surveys is also a great way to validate and test new products and services before releasing them into the market.

Target Better Prospects

By identifying and targeting your ideal customer, you’ll significantly increase your conversion rates.

We don’t want to spend marketing funds on low probably prospects.

You can target customers by:

Location (Geographical)
Age
Gender
Income
Life events (pregnancy, divorce, retirement, etc.)
Interests
Occupation

The more you know about your ideal customer, the easier it is to target them.

Team Member Profiles

By adding team member profiles to your website or marketing material, it can help in increasing your conversions.

Outlining their skills, experience and expertise lets prospects know you’re a professional organization and helps build trust.

This can also be used to help prospects contact team members directly, allowing for a more personalized connection.

Testimonials

Testimonials are a core aspect of social proof.

You need to have them across websites and all your marketing collateral.

Many people who are interested in your product will only buy it if they read a glowing review of your product or service.

Testimonials need to be written in a way that makes the prospect emotionally connect with the experience.

This tactic is especially critical for e-commerce stores, with many customers vigorously checking the reviews before purchasing.

Train Entire Team in Sales/Service

Every single member of your team is a salesperson.

From the person who works the front counter, the admin person, the person who works on your vehicles. Every member is a salesperson.

With that being said, all team members need to be well versed in the products and services you offer.

“Sales” needs to be the first priority for every team member.

Ensure you incorporate sales training into your induction processes.

Try Before You Buy

Enabling customers to fully use the product before they buy it can be a great way to increase conversations.

This is especially true for high priced products that require a high investment from the customer.

Examples of this are: Allowing customers to trial a new car over the weekend.

Examples of online products could be one-month free membership.

Update/Re-post Articles & Blogs

Posting content should be a core part of your marketing strategy.

To ensure you gain the maximum benefit from it, regularly review and update your articles, blogs, and other content.

Industries are continually changing, and it’s important that your audience knows that you’re staying with the times and have intimate knowledge of your industry.

Up-sell, Cross-sell & Down-sell

To increase your conversion rate, it’s a great idea to give prospects different options.

Three options are always best (if possible).

Think about the core products and services you sell, then ask yourself. What could my up-sell be? What could I cross-sell with it?

And what could I down-sell if they wanted a smaller product/service?

Use NLP Techniques

The key to sales is excellent communication.

Through the use of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), salespeople can increase their conversion rates.

NLP is concerned with the words you and your prospect use, then adapting your communication style to better understand the needs of the prospect.

A few key points:

Everyone has a preferred language

Listen and look for the words people use in conversation

Match your sales strategy to your prospects buying strategy
Identify “Towards” and “Away” behaviours

Use Payment Plans & Financing

There are a number of different payment plans you can offer customers. Some of these include:

Lay-by, no interest payments, no money up front, balloon payments and rent to buy.

These work well for high priced ticket items such as cars, furniture, motorbikes, boats, etc.

Based on your industry data and customer profiles, you should have a good idea of what percentage of your customers buy your product or service using finance.

Use Prospect Questionnaires

Offering prospects questionnaires can be a great way to gather data and intel move customers further down the sales funnel.

It can help prospects with product selection, product fit, pre-qualify them and create commitment.

An example could be: A questionnaire that helps you choose the right cosmetic product for your skin type and needs.

Video and Audio Demonstrations

Video and audio demonstrations can be a great way to educate and showcase your products.

Take for example a new type of hair straightener; if you have an amazing video of the hair straightener in action, it can show the product being demonstrated in a way not possible in a store setting.

Customers can better imagine themselves using the product, and how it might feel to be using it.

Write The Company’s Story

If your business is well established and has been around for a long time, it might be worthwhile writing your companies story.

You’ll often see these stories about “how the business started” in businesses like restaurants.

The goal here is to connect with the customer emotionally and build a repour.

This tactic can also work for new businesses, by explaining “why” you started the business, or “how” you came up with this crazy new idea.

Written Guarantees

Providing customers with guarantees and warranties is a great way to increase sales, especially if they are not familiar with the product.

This is especially true with larger ticket items, like houses, cars, tools, appliances, etc.

By lowering the risk to the consumer, you will increase your conversion rates and build trust.

70 Ways to Increase Your Conversion Rate

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