Businesses looking to boost sales would benefit from structuring their strategy around the “five C’s”, according to a leading expert.
Birmingham-based business expert Daniella Genas, who has supported dozens of entrepreneurs through their growth journeys, says implementing the system can create instant results.
Daniella, founder of the Be The Boss, said: “Whatever kind of business you are running, increasing and maintaining sales is the key to long term growth, and to showing a potential investor you are worth taking a chance on.
“Yet many business owners don’t spend much time mapping out a strategy as to how they will do it. And many of those that do often find such a wide myriad of advice that it can be hard to decide what are the best tactics to use.
“I’ve always found that following the five c’s can give you the best chance of boosting your sales.
“ I encourage people to develop a customer-centred approach. It is also vital to clarify your target customers and carry out market research. Businesses should also look to craft offers and to consistently execute strategies. By following these steps you are giving your business the best chance of securing the sales it needs to grow and prosper.”
Explaining her strategy in more detail, Daniella says:
Clarify your target customers
It begins with a simple question: Who is my ideal customer? The truth is, not everyone is your customer. Many people make this mistake. Start with filling out the demographic data. To do this ask yourself what my ideal customer’s age is, sex, education, social class, marital status, occupation, etc.
After this, you move on to the psychographic data. This is where you ask: what are my ideal customers’ wants, dreams, hopes, desires, fears, regrets, etc.
With all this information, you know what your customer expects and how to position your product to fulfill those expectations. Only then will they be interested in what you sell.
Conduct market research
Market research often gets bad Press because it can throw up images of people standing in the street trying to bother you as you move from A to B. But, in business, market research is absolutely vital if you want to succeed in reaching your destination. Market research involves gathering data to learn more about target demographics and consumers so a business can market itself more effectively and, ultimately, succeed in the market. Market research is a vital part of any business strategy, whether that business is B2B or B2C, big or small, new or old. It provides the answers companies need to make decisions that will move them forward instead of back by empowering them to base decisions on data.
Most companies know what market research is and acknowledge its importance in a general sense, but many do not realise just how crucial market research is to the success of their business. If you need to identify market trends, understand your core customer better, or achieve a long list of other important goals, market research is usually the answer.
Customer-centred approach
Being customer centric means making decisions based on the impact they will have on your customers. An organisation centred around the customer should prioritise efforts that eliminate customer pain points. They should also consider how decisions impact the customer throughout the organisation, not only in the traditional fields (customer service and sales). It is important to train all employees so that they understand how their decisions can affect customers.
Finally businesses that do best in this area use real leaders who are actively interested in customer problems.
Craft offers, marketing & sales strategies
As brilliant as you think your product or service is, all that matters to a customer is answering one question: “what’s in it for them?” To be able to answer this, you need to spell out the benefits and not just the features of your products. While you are doing this, make sure your message is all about your prospect and what he/she stands to gain. How do the features of your service benefit your customer? Use these answers to form the basis of marketing and PR campaigns and ensure they clearly demonstrate the benefits of your product.
Try to build in discounts and offers too that provide a reward to customers, especially new ones. This will demonstrate you are willing to invest in them as much as they are in you.
Consistently execute strategies
A brilliant crafted strategy will quickly amount to nothing if it is not implemented and communicated effectively. Start by ensuring everybody within your business is aware of the strategy, understands why it is important and recognises how it aligns with your orgnisation’s values. Next, ensure those in charge of implementing the strategy clearly know their roles and what is expected of them. Finally, it is vital to build on tools to measure and assess success. A consistently executed strategy which is not delivering on your intended outcomes can quickly damage a business and devastate the morale of a team. If things aren’t working, don’t be afraid to change course – but remember to keep everyone with you and communicate your reasons.
