What keeps a business ticking along? The simple answer is sales, and when you run a small business, every sale counts. But boosting sales takes more than slashing prices at Black Friday. It’s about understanding your customers and building relationships so that your sales pipeline always looks healthy.

So, you know sales are the spark plug that fires up your small business, but do you know how to increase your sales without offering endless promotions?

In this section, we’ll unpack some practical, actionable tips you can implement to increase your sales, no matter whether you’re behind the counter, behind a computer screen, or both. Ready to grow your business? Let’s get started!

Understand your customer’s journey

It’s a beautiful day. Your customer heads online, checks out your website and immediately makes a purchase. Wake up! Unless you’ve spent some time nurturing your customer and investing in the buyer journey, you’re dreaming. 

Your customers don’t just wake up one day and decide to buy something from you – they go on a journey. This journey starts from the minute they first hear about your brand and continues as they move along the purchasing funnel. There are multiple touchpoints and markers that will influence their decision to buy or not to buy, and you need to understand the levers you can pull to encourage them to make a purchase. Understanding what influences their decisions is part of the sales process.

For physical stores, the journey starts the moment a customer walks through your door or drives past your shopfront. Are they greeted warmly? Are the products they need easy to find? For online businesses, the journey often begins with a Google search or social media ad. Once they uncover your business through an ad or search results, they click through to your website. What they experience when they get there, from casual browsing to shopping to check out, can either encourage them to complete the sale or send them away frustrated.

Take the time to map out your customer’s journey for both online and offline touchpoints. This will allow you to spot any obstacles they may face and optimise the experience. Some common roadblocks for online stores include website navigation that makes it hard to find what you want, or complicated checkout processes. When you operate a physical store, it’s essential to get your display right and that the flow of the store encourages purchases. By improving your customer journey, you’ll make it easier for people to buy from you.

Build strong relationships with your customers

The sale doesn’t end when your customer walks out the door or clicks ‘buy now’. This is just the beginning of your relationship. Think of it as a great first date. You want more dates, right? 

So, how can you make your customers come back for more? A lot of business owners make the mistake of putting all their focus on attracting new customers, forgetting that repeat customers are often the most valuable. But they don’t come back just because you offer them discounts (although they do help!). Building a connection with your customers can lead to brand loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, and higher lifetime value.

If you operate in the real world and have a brick-and-mortar store, this could mean offering a personalised experience, such as remembering their names or preferences. It could also involve loyalty programs or special discounts for repeat visitors. For online businesses, consider sending personalised emails, offering exclusive deals, or creating a VIP program for your most loyal customers. A simple “thank you for your purchase” note can go a long way in making your customers feel valued.

Customer loyalty is earned through excellent service, consistent communication, and making sure customers feel appreciated. These efforts build trust, and trust leads to repeat business.

Resource

• 10-Step Sales Funnel Plan 
  Get helpful tips on how to boost customer loyalty.

Perfect your sales pitch (without being pushy!)

When it comes to sales, the key is to be helpful, not pushy. Whether you’re in a shop helping someone choose the right product or trying to get someone to click ‘buy now’ on your website, a good sales pitch is all about being clear, concise, and informative without being aggressive.

Start by understanding what your customers need. If you’re in a physical store, great! The customer is right in front of you so you can have a conversation to uncover their needs. What are they looking for? What problem are they trying to solve? Similarly, if you have an eCommerce store then your online copy should focus on how you can solve your customer’s problem. How will you make their life better? Focus on the benefits rather than just features, and make sure your unique value proposition is clear.

A great pitch doesn’t feel like a hard sell; it feels like a conversation. Show your customers that you care about what they want and need, and offer solutions to meet those needs. Remember, people love to buy, but they don’t like being sold to.

Resource

• Cold Call Script Template
  To help you set the right note when approaching a new prospect.

Offer promotions that actually convert

We all love a sale. It’s human nature to want to get something for the best price but it’s important to remember that while sales promotions can generate an uptick in business, not every promotion needs to be driving customers to purchase at a discounted price. Everyone loves a good deal, but not every promotion drives sales. Instead, think about running promotions that could upsell or cross-sell. You want to attract attention and convert.

Think about what will motivate your customers to act. Time-limited discounts create urgency, free shipping can sweeten the deal, and product bundles can help move more stock while offering more value. For example, “buy one, get one for 50 per cent off” could be a great way to encourage customers to purchase more, especially if you are overstocked.

However, promotions aren’t just about slashing prices. They should be strategically designed to encourage the desired behaviour. Test different offers to see what works best for your business and make sure you track how well each promotion performs. If you’re running an online business, tools like Shopify‘s discount generator make creating promotions easy and trackable.

Optimise your website for sales (if you’re online)

If you’re running an online business, your website is your storefront, so it needs to work hard to convert casual browsers into customers. The simple way to do this is to focus on customer experience. The goal is to make the shopping experience as smooth and seamless as possible.

Website optimisation tips

• Make sure your website design is clean, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly. Customers should be able to find what they need quickly, whether they’re browsing from their phone or desktop.
• Always have clear calls-to-action (CTAs). Buttons like Shop Now, Buy Now, Learn More or Add to Cart should stand out and push the customer to the next phase of the buyer journey.
• It’s essential to streamline the checkout process. A complicated or lengthy checkout can lead to cart abandonment, so keep it as simple as possible. Make shipping costs clear from the get-go, and provide multiple payment options.
• Track everything you can. That way you will have visibility on the customer journey so you can see where buyers are dropping off. Free tools like Google Analytics are a good place to start.

Leverage social media to drive sales

Social media isn’t just a place to get stuck in a scroll hole of cat memes; it’s a powerful tool to drive sales directly. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn allow small businesses to show off their products, engage with customers, and promote special offers in a more personal way.

But social media is a crowded market, so to stand out from the crowd you need to create engaging content that encourages action, whether it’s showcasing your latest product, promoting a flash sale, or posting customer reviews.

Socials are also a highly visual medium, so always use high quality images when posting product shots. However, when it comes to video content, authentic is best. Customers love hearing from the business owner, so make use of behind-the-scenes content to keep your customers engaged. Make sure to include a clear CTA in your posts, such as “Click the link in bio to shop now” or “DM us for more details”.

And never leave your customers hanging. Social is a two-way street, so make sure you engage with your followers and customers. Always reply to comments as quickly as possible. Social is also a great place to run brand awareness campaigns while fostering a sense of community around your brand. Remember, when people feel connected to you, they’re more likely to buy.

There are so many tools you can use within social platforms to boost your business. For more advanced tools, explore Meta’s business tools for Instagram and Facebook, which allow you to run ads, track performance, and optimise campaigns.

Make use of email marketing

Email direct marketing (EDM) is one of the most cost-effective ways to connect with your customers and drive sales. Plus, the benefit is you are already preaching to the converted. Emails let you directly reach your audience, share offers, and keep customers engaged with your brand.

To get started, you need to build an email list, so it’s important to have a highly visible signup on your website and to incentivise people to join. A simple way could be to offer customers a discount on their first purchase should they join your email list.

Once you have your list, segment it based on factors like customer preferences, purchase history, or engagement levels. This lets you create targeted EDM campaigns which will be more likely to lead to conversions. 

Create engaging email campaigns with a clear CTA. Whether you’re announcing a new product or offering a limited-time discount, make sure your emails have compelling visuals and are easy to read. You don’t have to do this on your own. There are some fantastic email programs out there that can help you create professional campaigns. Tools like Mailchimp and Constant Contact can devise a full customer journey using automated follow-ups, so nurturing leads becomes simple.

Use data to refine your strategy

Data is your best friend when it comes to refining your sales strategy. Understanding your key performance indicators (KPIs) will allow you to make informed decisions and optimise your efforts.

Start by tracking basic metrics like conversion rates (how many visitors make a purchase), average order value (how much customers spend on average), and customer retention rates (how many return for repeat purchases). 

For eCommerce businesses, tools like Google Analytics and Shopify’s inbuilt analytics solutions can give you fantastic insights into user behaviour on your website. If you run a traditional brick-and-mortar store, you can still get access to this data but in a different way. Think about investing in a point of sales (POS) system that tracks sales data so you can run reports.

Once you have the data, use it to identify trends, strengths, and areas for improvement. For example:

• Are there certain products that are clear winners?
• Do some products sell better at different times of year (seasonality)?
• Does everyone want free shipping?
• How are your discounts tracking? 

By staying across your data, you can evolve your strategy to increase your sales.

Of course, there is no quick fix to improve your sales but trying one or two of these tips could help you with your strategy. Focus your time on what will work best for your business, and remember to make use of all the data at your disposal so that you can make informed decisions as you move forward.

Resources

• Campaign PerformanceTracking Template 
  To help you get a handle on how any ads on social are performing.
• Sales Strategy Framework
  To help you gain some quick wins.