There is no business that doesn’t want to earn profit. Businesses want to make an inspiring change alongside providing livelihood opportunities for individuals who want jobs or be part of the middle-class economic level and other higher levels. Hence you must learn what each business owner should know in order to achieve great sales figures and excellent online reviews.
Table of Contents
What are Good Sales Figures?
How Can I Make My Sales Figures Better?
The 8 Tips to Driving Good Sales Figures
How to Receive Good Online Reviews
Takeaway
What are Good Sales Figures?
To make matters clear, the term “sales figures” refers to the amount or value a company has in sales for a particular time period. A good range for sales figures varies according to your company’s size and the amount you spend on marketing and other expenditures to make a sale. Remember the golden rule of selling which is “you sell to people in the same way that you want to be sold to.” Do not go overboard with your marketing strategies to make one sale. All you need to do is follow your plans in business and stay within the perimeter of your means.
Reminders:
→ A gross profit margin ratio of 50 to 70% is a considerably healthy amount.
→ Obtain substantial earnings from organic sources (free sources).
→ Introduce your business as a profitable company to possible investors and partners once you have established your branding.
How Can I Make My Sales Figures Better?
Inciting good change in your sales figures will be affected by your efforts in marketing and your sales department. One of the things that you must take note of as the head of your entrepreneurial work, you cannot be dependent on paid advertisements. Yes, we have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms which we can use for paid advertising; however, all of these will not be enough. We must still take the necessary steps to establish our brand through marketing channels that cost little to no amount of money at all.
Making your sales figures better involves a lot of research. Alongside research comes the technical actions that you need to do to achieve quality results in your sales figures. Some of these are listed below…
The 8 Tips to Driving Good Sales Figures
- Showcase my business’ best qualities and products
You can’t control what others think about your business, but you can control the amount of information you send to your audience. Included in this amount of information you set out are the things you are good at. If your business is not particularly good at something else, there’s no need to highlight it. You can keep it in the shadows for you to work on and improve in the later stages. Be careful with your use of words and the statements that you share and highlight with your works. Only share those that are important, so you won’t be creating works that are overstimulating and give an information overload.
- Boast about your offers and exclusives
If you have offers or exclusive perks that you would like the public to know about, then you can place these promotional materials on the header of your eCommerce website or page. One notable eCommerce platform is the startup Filipino-made company – Shoppable. It features different tools and accessibility features that allow you to create the design that you would like to have. You can create special features that become the face of your business for a certain time period. One of the best things about Shoppable is its user-friendly interface, providing your business with its own domain (website) for your eCommerce store, which will help you create your brand profile more easily.
If you’re not yet familiar with how eCommerce platforms work because you’ve been accustomed to operating your sales through your website alone, or social media marketplace, we’re happy to inform you that working on an eCommerce platform like Shoppable will get all the stress off your back. You can input your best-selling products at no cost, and sign-ups for the platform are also free. You can include special vouchers and discounts depending on your level of generosity. You can place them easily on your eCommerce page, and customers will flock to them in no time.
- Advertise on the different social media platforms
You can utilize your business’ different social media accounts by advertising for free. While “free advertisement” sounds unreal or weird, you can actually do so by creating exciting games and competitions with your social media audience. Some of the ideas you can harness inspiration from include…
- Like, comment, and share the giveaway
This is the typical advertisement that goes around on our social media platforms. Brands post a piece of content that would require their viewers to comment, like, and repost their content, and at the end of the provided time period, there will be a randomizer application that will decide whose username will be chosen as the winner of the giveaway. The good thing about this is we get support from different audiences of varying demographics, and we reach different targets. However, the downside of this is that not all of our viewers and additional viewers will follow the instructions of the giveaway, which may be difficult to identify if we receive thousands of responses.
- Content competition
Some ideas for the content competition include photography contests, poetry competitions, vlogging competitions, and other art contests. These are the online competitions that take a little more time to make; hence fewer audiences submit their entries compared to the like-comment-share giveaway.
Through this free social media advertisement, we can receive more quality content and feedback from our viewers. Think about it, no viewer in their rational mind would join a competition if it requires them to produce content that requires a couple of features to be included. The downside of this project is that the participants who will not be chosen as the winner may feel disappointed towards the brand, as they exerted effort to create their content yet were not chosen to be the winner. Perhaps it would be best to provide all participants with a minor consolation prize to avoid such issues.
- Raffle
Some raffles require their audience to pay for their raffle tickets; for business owners like ourselves, it seems that this is somewhat of an unethical means of providing entertainment and advertisement. Doing so almost feels like we’re soliciting money from our buyers, which is not what we want. As much as possible, we want our sales to be driven up without doing anything illegal or negative.
If we want to launch a raffle as a social media advertisement, we may allow only those who have purchased with us to join. Users may enter their receipt number to join the raffle, and at the end of the raffle duration, when we are tasked to draw who the winners are, we pick which receipt number becomes the victor of the game.
- Guessing game
Some groups and brands online post images that make you guess what the image is or where it was taken. Some guessing games online feature a form of Pictionary or wordle that requires us to think of the correct answer. This is one of the free advertisement methods we can use in social media if we want to garner a good amount of audience impressions.
The good thing about this is that users will take the time to think about whether or not their answer is correct, introducing them to your brand for a longer time period than a normal introduction. The downside of this, on the other hand, is that we have very smart users everywhere, so our answers may catch on quickly. If we want to address this, we may offer a lineup of questions that users may respond to.
- Workshops
This is one of the most exciting forms of social media advertisements that can be done for free. Of course, you will need resources like a program and a platform to conduct your workshop, but all of these may be done online. Online workshops are popular among individuals who want to know more about the ins and outs of the industry.
What you can offer for individuals is a set of speakers and a certificate of participation when they have successfully completed the workshop. The best thing about this is individuals learn about your company and how businesses work, and you may also receive free advertisements through multiple social media platforms.
- Make creative content for publishing
This doesn’t mean getting the latest endorsers to publish your content or create content for your brand. You can be more resourceful and reach out to those you haven’t worked with before. When creating content for publishing, ensure that it fits the standard. Make sure that you abide by the branding guidelines of your company as you create content that is creative and enticing.
Creative content may include gifs, memes, 3D animated videos or posters, and the like. Think out of the box and explore the different creative possibilities that you can apply to your business. You can check out creative platforms such as Pinterest or Behance and broaden your view of creativity by harnessing the inspiration that they exude.
- Introduce your brands to other businesses for partnerships
One way to gain impressions from the public is by building relationships and forming partnerships with other companies. You may do so by exploring the industry over the web and figuring out which companies you may work with. Ask yourself these three questions…
- Do we have complimenting niches?
- Do our values align with each other?
- Can I see myself and my business working together?
Make sure that you respond with three yes answers to the questions
above. Otherwise, you will find yourself in a complicated situation of being suffocated as you work with your business partner. Before you act on anything, before you invite anybody, make sure that you conduct thorough research about their company and yours, and match up how you can work together in building each other’s business.
- Create a newsletter
Newsletters help remind your audience and existing customers about your newest products and services. You won’t be bombarding them with information monthly, but you will be producing content that is relevant to the current trends in the market. Hence, this is where you must be keen on observing how you can entice your audience and existing customers to keep coming back. Make them know that you have your doors open, and they need to enter.
Newsletters can also contain exclusive discounts or vouchers that won’t be accessible to the public. This way, you will receive a good number of recurring customers who would want to sign up with your newsletter because they want to opt into the new product and service information that your brand is offering.
- Build rapport with your customers and target audience
Rapport! Rapport! Rapport! Know that all your efforts will be wasted if you can’t build rapport with your customers, business partners, and target audience. Don’t waste your effort and time by welcoming clients if you can’t build a good rapport with them. Clients want to feel appreciated and cared for, and so do your business partners and target customers. Listen to them and know how you can address the needs that they share when they enter the online doors of your business.
One of the most important things you need to remember when conducting a business, especially if it is set on an online setup, is how you can connect with your customers and business partners. Never let your customers and business partners feel neglected or unheard. Nobody wants to feel that way, not even you. Place yourself in their shoes and see that you skillfully perform your business endeavors professionally while building a good connection with your customers or business partners.
- Keep a watchful eye on your competitors
Chances are, your competitors are watching you too. So, keep a watchful eye on your competitors in the industry. Watch how well they are performing as you simultaneously focus on working towards achieving your goals. Refrain from acting in a stagnant manner, that you only watch your progress alone. You must know where you stand and that you strive to achieve the best results according to your ability and the team’s effort.
Watching your competitors should not make you lose sight of your personal goals as a business; it should motivate you to strive harder and perform better in the industry of perfect competition. When you get the chance to work with other clients, try analyzing their motives. Some individuals or companies may act as spies who want to take you down. The business world is tough, which is why you need to keep your guard up. Never trust too easily and work only with those whom you know are not your competitors.
Tip: Keeping an eye on your competitors is important, but focusing on your customers is essential.
If you want to operate your business online through a platform that easily connects you with your target audience, you should check out Shoppable. It’s the Philippines’ first digital procurement platform that is designed to help businesses like yours grow at a speedy acceleration rate.
Here’s why you should join Shoppable…
- It’s FREE – It’s free to start selling on the Shoppable platform. As long as you’re a legally registered business, you’ll be able to list products for free on Shoppable. You only pay a commission if an item sells on the platform, and you get paid.
- Expand your Customer base – Through Shoppable, you’ll reach thousands of new customers for free. Think of Shoppable as your marketing arm that you only pay when you have a sale.
- Get your eCommerce Store – Increase sales by digitalizing your product catalog and reaching customers worldwide. Print catalogs are dying, costly, and not environment friendly – digital is the future. Sellers can get their eCommerce store on Shoppable Business, which can be given to any client.
- Procurement Technology – Enable your customers to pay you online through Bank Transfers, Credit Cards, Over-the-Counter Payments, Recurring Payments, and more. Easily track and manage orders, payments, and shipping through the Shoppable platform.
- Shipping Technology – Shoppable has integrated directly with multiple shipping couriers, enabling you to provide same-day to next-day delivery to your customers.
- Compliance – Sales invoices and 2307’s required? Don’t worry. Shoppable has got you covered! The platform keeps sellers fully compliant, never worrying about missing documents.
- 3PL & Fulfilment Services – Need additional manpower? Shoppable can provide you with warehousing and fulfillment solutions to expand your brand to different locations enabling you to deliver products faster to your customers.
- Real Sellers, Real Buyers, and Real Products only – We vet and interview sellers that join the platform, so you will be assured that all of the products and transactions are authentic and legitimate.
How to Receive Good Online Reviews
Good reviews say a lot about a business, especially when a business is new. Reviews are sometimes considered to be the make or break point of a business. When a business has a lot of good reviews, it will be appreciated more by new buyers and recurring customers. Alternatively, when a brand has a lot of bad reviews, this will reflect poorly on its image. Brands that receive not-so-good reviews will have a hard time rising from the pit of disapproval they go through. Some instances also arise where brands get boycotted or “canceled” because of too many poor reviews. This is a predicament that you don’t want to happen to your business.
- Respond to all reviews – both positive and negative
Never be picky when it comes to responding to the reviews that your customers leave your products or services with. You are only allowed to hide or delete a review if the review placed on your product or service violates the rights of other individuals and poses harm or foul language. Otherwise, you are not to delete the reviews of the customers who shared their insights about your products or services.
One of the things that you need to remember when working on responding to the reviews that you receive on your products or service online is that you must acknowledge when your brand is the one at fault. For example, you mistakenly sent a product to the wrong person, and the person responded in the review that they received the wrong product. This is one example where you can offer a product exchange service for a product that was mistakenly sent to the customer.
- Optimize your eCommerce page content
Optimizing your eCommerce page content may be in the form of uploading high-quality images for your products or services. Sometimes you may also need to describe the information indicated in your product descriptions accurately. This way, your target audience, and existing customers will be led to the correct products and services that are located within your online store.
Without proper optimization, you will not be able to direct your customers to the correct products or services that they need or want to purchase. As much as possible, you must optimize your website content each time you post new products or services in order to avoid having your customers miss out on the products or services you offer.
- Share positive reviews
When you receive positive reviews, don’t be afraid to flaunt them. Let your existing customers and new customers know how well you are working and how much you are appreciated by your previous buyers. You may also add a dedicated section that is solely for all the positive reviews that you receive. From product reviews to customer testimonials, you can add all these to a section in your eCommerce platform.
One particular eCommerce platform that you can work more efficiently with is Shoppable Business. The Filipino-made platform has designed its eCommerce site to be in favor of customers and sellers alike. This means that all the features you want to use will be present. No need to turn to third-party applications to figure out how you can optimize your website. The eCommerce platform Shoppable business offers all the tools you need. And if you’d like to begin selling your products or services faster and more efficiently, then you can jump in right away and sign up for free.
- Create customer-feedback surveys
Customer feedback surveys are usually sent out to specific customers who have already tried and tested your product or service. These surveys may be sent out through email alongside your newsletter, or separately sent through the account of your customer. Receiving customer feedback is crucial because, as a business, we need to learn about how we can improve. After all, we’re not perfect individuals, and we each have room to grow.
Obtaining customer feedback will help us be guided about how we can conduct our business more effectively, generate more sales, and produce more positive customer feedback. Happy customers equate to a happy business. No business wants to fall behind when it comes to reaching its target sales figures and business goals. One proven and tested method to achieve the best results is to hear from our customers what they want from us and how they want it. This direct communication method will aid in creating a foolproof system of improvement for our customers and our business.
- Allow your reviews to be organic
Sure we can generate advertisements here and there, and we can gain content from the people we know or our clients, but all those numbers still wouldn’t be enough. If we want to enter the market of the industry we are in; then we have to make our presence known. Making our presence known doesn’t have to cost tens and thousands of money that will drive our business bankrupt. What we need to work on is how we can obtain organic content from our customers and target audiences.
Organic reviews and content in means of advertising correspond to having these support systems for free. On a usual basis, these objects are usually costly and sold separately by companies that offer bulk reviews and content. Doing so may hurt our brand reputation and even cause us more negative publicity. We want none of that.
What we are working on is obtaining organic customer feedback, customer reviews, and organic content from our target audience and customers. The more effort we exert into producing quality content, the more we can rank up in the charts and ace our sales figures and customer reviews.
Takeaway
Each entrepreneur is a leader that is the pilot of their respective business. The choices we make represent the decisions that we share with our customers. All of the things we do, from small decisions to grand ones, all of these affect the way we interact with our market. If we want to improve and grow continuously, then we must be open to learning new things and new ways of doing things. Be it in customer service, customer reviews, or product listings, one of our key roles is to provide quality products and transparent service that is inclusive to all.
Remember, happy customers equate to a happy business. When you receive the golden beacon of being popularized by your customers, you will be known to different demographics of the population as the business that is made with quality and offers the best service. So, make it yours and build a business anchored on making customers happy.
Selling your products, goods, and services through an eCommerce store is more than just making sales and profit. It’s about providing customers with the most reliable, fast, and secure online shopping experience for your customers. If, by any chance, you’re a business looking to expand into the world of online shopping, an eCommerce solutions partner like Shoppable Business can help you garner sales and provide the best online shopping experience for your buyers and customers. Drop by and say hello to our team at [email protected], and we’ll make your business readily available for eCommerce.
