SALES
Whilst normally we talk about the sales we are getting, and we need to be getting sales to ensure our Business is viable and can continue on, however today, I thought I would address the problems of no sales.
When we start a Business, we might do all the right things, we create a facebook page and we post on it daily, weekly, and then we might promote our adverts, to the chosen audience, we then decide to pay for a website, and we have a website created and hosted etc, and we advertised this to anywhere we can, we then might be attending a couple of networking sessions per month and meeting all these other business owners, we might then also go and create an Instagram Profile and a LinkedIn profile, and there we are believing we are doing everything right, and everything that we can and yet we are still not getting sales, which is then disappointing, but also hurts as we are struggling to pay the bills, etc and often wondering when the next client or dollars will come from.
Today, I am going to mention a couple of reasons, why you might not be achieving sales within your business, and believe it or not, it may not always be cost, although at times not everyone will be able to afford your products/services and will believe they can find a cheaper option elsewhere, whether the quality is as good or not.
Message
The Message you are sending to your potential clients/customers is not a clear message.
In the service based business, a potential client may not quite understand the service you are providing or how beneficial it can be to their business.
Or within the product, the customer may not understand what the actual product does, or how it is different from other products on the market.
They may not understand how fully your product/service will solve their problem, although we all know not all services solve problems as some can help set your business up for future operations.
Target Audience
You are not advertising where your target audience/ potential clients are not hanging out, e.g. if your potential client is someone who searches for services/products online, and yet you target all your advertising to paper-based, then you may not be reaching your target audience.
Your product might be great for the 25-40 age group, and yet when you are selecting the wrong age groups for your advertising on facebook or other marketing platforms.
If you are not sending a clear message to your potential clients, then you will reduce the chance of you finding suitable clients for your business and therefore will reduce the chance of making sales.
This is why your market research prior to starting your Business and included in your business plan is so important. Knowing who your target audience is, can help ensure your advertising targets the right people, otherwise, it becomes a waste of money.
Brand
Your Brand is important, ensuring your branding is the same with all your social media/websites is important,
Having different headers on your facebook and your website may not help you.
There may be something with your brand that potential clients can not relate to, there may be posts on your personal social media which your potential clients don’t agree with and therefore they won’t buy from you.
It might be as simple as your logo, that is difficult for people to remember, however they can always remember your competition’s logo, and therefore will always use and then recommend your competitors.
If you have an out of date template for your website, your potential clients may wonder if you are up to date with the service knowledge or product knowledge of what you are offering.
Ensuring your brand is a trustworthy and consistent brand within your messages can help you achieve your sales.
Wrong Service/ Product.
This is more relevant in the service industry, is the format of your service is not something that people want.
The best example I give for this, is when I moved from SA to Country Vic, I spoke to many of Business owners and told them I was looking at offering a Security Advice business, and the majority of them, although hesitant respondent with, well you know what we don’t have many of them in the area, so yes we do need them. However I forgot to ask the next basic question- I should have then asked, but would you be willing to pay for the advice, as this would have given me a better insight as to whether the business idea would be viable or not- as people don’t want security advice they would just rather put a camera or an alarm system in and expect it to solve any problems.
So that was a learning curve for me, when mentoring new Business owners, especially when doing their market research is remember to ask the important question, would you pay for the service…….
Hopefully this gives you some ideas on what to think about when running a business, and you might be struggling for sales.
It might be worth speaking with a friend, mentor, coach, business advisor, who can help you with your Business concerns, friends are great for checking your message to ensure they understand what you are offering and how you can solve problems.
You may need to talk to a Marketing professional, or a website designer to ensure your website is up to date, and looking at good as it good, they may also give you ideas on how to improve it, which may also help with your Facebook advertising.
Running a small business especially can be lonely, and you are not expected to know everything, however, ensure you have the right people around you to help you through the rough and the good times.
