It’s been a year down the line and you’re not seeing the desired returns but still are hesitant on taking action? Bad business mistake! The moment you realize a decline in your sales turnover, you need to act fast in ensuring that you have the situation under control. Truth be told, it can be from changes in the climate, a factor you have no control over or the mere fact that your clients cannot take it anymore from poor treatment, the lack of recognition, or that you have poor after-sales services. It’s up to you to realize the loopholes before it’s too late. Below are five potential reasons why your sales are plummeting.
1. Misinformation and Poor Sales Alignment
It’s said that information is power but you’ll be surprised by how relying on the wrong information can be bad for business. Chances are that you’re lending an ear to the wrong people, especially if it’s your competitors! Nothing good comes from relying on your competitor’s advice. What this does is that it confuses the sales team. This is information coming from all the different sources and chances are it’s not the right information.
Changes in authority can also affect your sales. In addition to this, it may be that your sales team is over relying on marketers on the ground for information. It’s important to ensure that any marketing information from the ground is first passed to the heads for decisive articulation so that by the time it gets down to the team, it’s collaborative. Failure to this, it can end up dragging the numbers.
2. Your Marketing Approach Could Be Wanting
Hey, we are in the 21st century for crying out loud! Why utilize outdated marketing tools when your competitors are not? While some old school marketing techniques can still be used today, in a way, it may demoralize your sales team on the ground. If you realize that your marketing techniques or tools are outdated, it may be time to discard them and style up. Today, very few businesses rely on door to door marketing, for instance. We have websites, mobile technology, and the internet for this.
And since different kinds of businesses may require different selling strategies, it pays to consider taking a sales and marketing course depending on the industry you’re in. If you’re selling your products on Amazon, for instance, you’ll want to learn the hacks and tricks of how to stand out from the rest of the crowd in this highly competitive space. In his comparative review of Amazing Selling Machine and Marketplace Superheroes, Jeremy Harrison from Hustle Life says that price, training experience, value, and ROI are some of the most important factors to consider when deciding which course to choose. A good tutorial will always add value to your business and increase your chances of success.
3. Poor Customer Service
You may have the right skills to handle your clients but this may not be the case for your staff. Before hiring, ensure that your employees are trained on the importance of exceptional customer service. If you noticed a decline in sales after hiring new staff, look no further. Your sales decline problems lie from within and not without. Hiring the right people who have your best interests at heart can go a long way in boosting your sales turnover, ultimately improving your overall business operations.
Today, most companies will vet their new employees before their first paycheck. This means digging into their social life, credit history, family relations, and drug testing. A red flag in one of the above elements in an employee could poison your business operations. Additionally, it’s important to take time to know your staff, but if nothing works, then it may be time you parted ways!
4. Lack of Value Addition
Today, consumers have become quite savvy, and the details you ignore today could easily paralyze your business tomorrow. Once you notice a drop in your sales, it could be high time you invested back in your business. The key to improving value does not lie in offering freebies and discounts. It’s about how you value your products and services. Most companies have suffered losses because they saw it wise to cut prices. In the eyes of the consumers, these products reduced value. A more practical solution would be to ensure your products are well packaged, well delivered, and well represented. At the end of the day, your products represent your brand and you don’t want to mess with that.
5. Inflexibility
In business, there’ll be times when you’ll have to compromise. This, however, doesn’t mean compromising your values, dignity, or morals. Ever heard of the saying rules were made to be broken? Well, this is not so applicable in the business realm! You need to draw a line between that which can be compromised for the greater good of your company. All the same, it’s good to have some flexibility in terms of product pricing, packaging, inventory, and so forth.
Similarly, it may be that you’re not mobile. Today, most consumers are on the internet searching for goods and services. It’s about reaching your potential consumers in places they frequent most and surprisingly, the majority are using mobile devices to access product websites. So, ensuring that your website is mobile-friendly can be key in getting your sales back on track.
It’s a scary thought to see your business suffer losses while others thrive. It’s even scarier to know your negligence or ignorance could be the cause. By internally fixating on issues that may be causing such losses, you’ll have the upper hand in knowing how to tackle them. Fortunately, with the above few pointers, knowing the steps to take next may not be that much of a challenge.
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