No business’ sales always trend upward. In fact, there may be times when you see your sales start to even out or even drop for a period of time. While this can be normal, it is also a good indication that you may need to take a look at your current processes to figure out the reason for the dropping numbers.
Stagnating sales also provide you with the opportunity to freshen up old campaigns or breathe new life into your current sales tactics. But before you start, consider the following recommendations by the members of Young Entrepreneur Council. Here, they discuss steps you can take to help turn around slowing sales as soon as possible and get your customers engaging once more.
1. Consider What Your Customers Really Need
When sales start stagnating, the best thing you can do is ask yourself, “What do my customers need?” If a ton of people already purchased your product, it may be time to move on to something that complements your first product. For example, the team behind a social media marketing software as a service may delve into on-site lead generation plug-ins so they can consistently improve profits and offer the best experience possible to their customers. – John Turner, SeedProd LLC
2. Introduce A Gamified Referral Program
One step you can take to help turn around slowing or stagnating sales is to implement a customer referral program with a unique and enticing twist. Instead of a traditional referral program that offers incentives or discounts to customers who refer others, consider creating a gamified experience. Develop a referral-based challenge or competition where customers earn points, badges or exclusive rewards for referring new customers. This approach not only encourages existing customers to actively promote your products or services but also adds an element of excitement and engagement. By infusing a sense of fun and friendly competition, you can reinvigorate customer participation, generate word-of-mouth buzz and ultimately drive more sales. – Andrew Saladino, Kitchen Cabinet Kings
3. Refresh Your Team’s Sales Training
Retrain on the sales process. Even your most senior people sometimes forget the basics of the workflow. They start to use internal acronyms that leave customers confused. They move through the process without explaining the “why” or value for the customer because they know it intrinsically and forget that the prospect does not. A step gets dropped or lost and never picked back up somehow. Getting consistency from the team with the journey you take your customer on can help bring back the energy instead of the day feeling like monotony. – Marjorie Adams, Fourlane
4. Partner With The Right Influencers
When sales numbers start to drop, I think one smart way to quickly boost engagement is by leveraging the power of influencers. They can help provide key feedback to help you pivot and figure out why your product isn’t selling. Plus, partnering with the right influencers can give you a wider reach and help you connect with potential customers who may not have heard of your product yet. And, of course, you can partner with them to promote your brand and give your sales a boost. However, to maintain momentum, you need to work backward and look at what isn’t working to fix it—whether it’s a need for new features, poor design or poor marketing. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
5. Offer Special Gifts Or Discounts
Remember that you can always get more customers by giving a gift or a special discount. For example, one step that any business can take is to send its former customers a “we miss you” email offering a special discount on its products or services. In situations where a “we miss you” email is not appropriate (e.g. law firms should not send “we miss you” emails), you can send a “refer a friend” email giving a special gift or a discount to the referring party or the receiving party. – Feruza Djamalova, Sobirovs Law Firm
6. Conduct A ‘Customer Audit’
I’d recommend conducting a “customer audit.” In the dynamic business landscape, customer preferences and market trends change rapidly. So, it’s crucial to keep a pulse on your customers’ needs and align your offerings accordingly, and that’s where customer audits can help you. To get started, reach out to your customers for feedback. Use it to understand their current pain points, expectations and their experiences with your product or service. Next, collect information on the overall market trends and opportunities for a comprehensive view. Finally, analyze the feedback and findings and make the necessary adjustments to your product, marketing strategy or customer service. This could mean improving your product, personalizing your marketing efforts or enhancing your customer service. – Vikas Agrawal, Infobrandz
7. Talk To Your Competitors
Your relationship with other companies in your industry doesn’t have to be a contentious one. In fact, they may be experiencing a sales slump too. You can work together to brainstorm new ways to grow your businesses and even cross-promote each other. Exchanging notes with competitors can be a powerful way to unlock unexpected sales tactics and promotional strategies. This, of course, works best when you’re collaborating with companies that sell products within the same category but might not necessarily be direct competitors. – Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep Mattress
8. Reexamine Your Pricing Strategy
Slow sales aren’t uncommon, but if they stagnate entirely, you should be concerned. One of the reasons for this might be your pricing strategy. People may not want to buy your products or services because of how you have priced them. It can be a good start to examine the pricing structure of your competitors. You should strike a balance between an exorbitantly high and a too-low pricing model. People might consider your products to be overpriced if you set prices too high. Conversely, keeping prices too low can make them doubt the quality of your products. Study your competitors and set the pricing accordingly to strike a balance. – Josh Kohlbach, Wholesale Suite
9. Review Internal Data
The best way to turn around slow or stagnating sales is to review internal data. In many cases, the root cause of the problem is buried in your analytics or code. If we start to notice a decline in sales, the first thing we do is pull up the data and find exactly when it began. Once you identify where things went wrong, you can experiment with different theories until your sales trend upward again. There’s a good chance the problem isn’t as severe as it may seem! – Daman Jeet Singh, FunnelKit
10. Embrace New Technology And Trends
I think that when sales start to go on a downward trajectory, the first step to take is to consider venturing into new technology or new trends—even if they seem intimidating. Very often, strong companies reject modern developments and choose to stay safe instead of grow (take Nokia, for example). However, embracing new technologies will be the key to avoiding stagnation. In our own company, we’ve incorporated AI into our features, and it will help us lead the change in our field. Be quick and adapt to new technological growth if you want to turn around a downward trend in sales. – Blair Williams, MemberPress