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Make a Sales Strategy

I you make a sales strategy you will sell more and earn more money

Even small businesses and entrepreneurs should make a strategy or a plan on how to sell to its customers.

The Sales strategy

As soon as you have found out  you e.g. want to sell children’s clothing, software solutions or graphic design, your next thought should be:

1. Who are my customers?
2. How do I contact them?

These are the two most important questions in a sales strategy.

1) Who are the customers

You probably have a presumption of who your customers might be but you probably did not analyze or study it.

Here are some questions you could ask yourself and your customers. The responses and the analysis of the answers can be the basis for your customer analysis - which may be included in your business plan:

• Do I sell to businesses or consumers?
• How many customers are there?
• Are they men, women or seniors?
• Do I contact large or small companies?
• How many are there in total in my area, country or in Europe?
• What do these consumers do in their spare time?
• What is the price they would pay for the product or the service?
• Where do they buy my product or service today?
• What are the Features,  Advantages and Benefits for my customers?

Ask 5 potential customers

In order to make an educated guess you might interview 5 potential customers and see if they will buy your product rather than the one they use today. Talking to 5 potential customers - who are not your friends - provides invaluable knowledge about your customers.

You can also, in conversation with customers, evaluate your competitors´ strengths against yours. Contact also sector professionals and get their assessment of your product.

Your old work as first customer

You may also be in the fortunate position that you already have 5 customers when you start your business. Or you might have agreed with your former employer that he will buy at least 500 hours of work for you the first two years.

Selling to customers

Once you know who your customers are, you must find a good way to contact them. You must therefore ensure that there is plenty of time in your working week to contact customers - perhaps one day a week.

There is no « one » correct way of contacting customers. The ways to contact them depends a lot on what industry you are in, the competitive environment and how you are different from your competitors.

2) Contacting customers

Here is a non-exhaustive list of ways to contact customers:

• Pick up the phone and call — telephone sales
• Write a good sales letter and use the AIDA method
• Use Google Ad Words
• Contact your network
• Brand yourself on social media
• Seek leads during conferences
• Create your personal website
• Put great signs in front of your store or on your car
• Put flyers in mailboxes
• Write a book
• How to promote a store

Get more ideas by reading about sales and contact parameters and other sales and marketing articles on this website

The sole purpose of marketing is to sell more to more people, more often and at higher prices. There is no other reason to do it.
- Sergio Zyman, Mexican marketing executive