Establishing impactful customer-conversion strategies shouldn’t require a substantial investment.

Here are some of the top sales-boosting techniques that virtually any small business could adopt.

In the competitive small-business landscape, landing sales might feel like a continuous uphill battle, particularly if you’re working on a tight budget. Thankfully, though, maximizing your strategy doesn’t necessarily require making a hefty investment. In fact, some of the greatest solutions for closing more deals require no investment at all—besides devoting some time to retraining your team and polishing your approach. If you adopt these four essential strategies in your organization, you could boost your sales and keep your costs in check.

Build stronger relationships with customers

Multimillion-dollar-selling New Jersey real estate agent Jaynie Carlucci notes that establishing greater relationships with your clients is key to increasing your sales, especially repeat business from existing clients. After all, these are some of the most valuable warm leads you could foster.

Building these professional relationships is much like building connections in your personal life: they require you to stay present, consistent, and top of mind. First and foremost, you’ll want to fortify your online presence by updating your socials and blog regularly and engaging with your audience on social media. Encourage your clients to tag you in posts and review your business. Then follow up with a friendly response— such direct interaction will make your clients feel more connected with you.

Consider other strategies for retaining consistent contact with your clients. For instance, Carlucci sends each of her past clients a gift every year around the holidays. The feasibility of this strategy may depend on your budget, but at least try to send some holiday messages to your list via direct mail or even phone calls. In addition, craft segmented emails that include reaching out to warm leads, following up after a pitch or sale, and sending messages like birthday wishes.

When you leave a positive, friendly impact on your clients, you improve your chances that they’ll return for future business and refer you to their loved ones. These instant leads will feed right back into your business, creating a consistent loop of dependable sales. Establish relationships with other professionals Some of the most important contacts you could make are with other businesses in your industry. While in the early stages of her career, Carlucci devoted time to forging connections with home inspectors, mortgage lenders, and real estate attorneys. To do so, she networked proactively with influential professionals, held interviews with them, and featured them on her social media. “I once asked a builder if I could use one of his vacant staged houses to tape interviews,” she says. “Afterward, we took a bunch of lifestyle photos together, and I started putting them on my [social media] page.” These strategies helped her build both brand awareness in her community and a positive reputation among industry leaders. Consider how you might also benefit from establishing such relationships. Most notably, you could make yours the first name that other professionals mention when their clients seek recommendations, thereby opening up a referral network for receiving qualified leads.

Establish relationships with other professionals

Some of the most important contacts you could make are with other businesses in your industry. While in the early stages of her career, Carlucci devoted time to forging connections with home inspectors, mortgage lenders, and real estate attorneys. To do so, she networked proactively with influential professionals, held interviews with them, and featured them on her social media. “I once asked a builder if I could use one of his vacant staged houses to tape interviews,” she says. “Afterward, we took a bunch of lifestyle photos together, and I started putting them on my [social media] page.” These strategies helped her build both brand awareness in her community and a positive reputation among industry leaders.

Consider how you might also benefit from establishing such relationships. Most notably, you could make yours the first name that other professionals mention when their clients seek recommendations, thereby opening up a referral network for receiving qualified leads.

Be persistent

Many salespeople make the mistake of accepting “no” as the conclusion of the sales process, not an obstacle within it. But it takes far more touchpoints than you might expect to secure a “yes.” In fact, global sales training company RAIN Group found that an average of eight points of contact are needed to convert initial contacts into customers. And still, not every lead will be a successful one— RAIN Group also determined that even top-performing salespeople will only sell to 52 percent of targeted contacts. That’s where having a persistent mindset comes into play, which Carlucci credits as one of the keys to her professional success: “I was a competitive long-distance runner. Endurance and the refusal to quit are so instilled in me.” Train your sales team to practice persistence by following up with leads more frequently, especially via multiple channels—for example, sending emails and text messages in addition to phone calls. If they can adopt such diligence, they may convert more sales.

Listen well Possibly Carlucci’s greatest tip is to listen to your leads. It may sound simple, but if you pay close attention to their language, particularly the questions they ask, they will reveal their primary motivators. “When I meet someone, I can pick up on what drives them and what their needs are,” Carlucci says. “Anytime you converse with a new buyer, it’s important that you listen to what their goals are rather than push them to buy.” For example, she notes that someone motivated by status may ask questions about a neighborhood’s reputation while someone with a value mindset may make more inquiries about pricing and potential ROI.
Once you understand the prospect’s perspective, Carlucci recommends adjusting your verbiage and catering certain products or services to address their needs. “Let’s say a buyer is focused on love and connection,” she explains. “I’m going to make sure that I’m not only showing them houses but also connecting them with people in the community, making them feel that if they move here, they’re going to make friends instantly.” Ultimately, listening costs you nothing but your time. If you place value on getting to know your leads and directing your sales messaging accordingly, they may be more likely to grant you their business. “When I take the time in a buyer consultation to understand them and match my consulting to that,” Carlucci states, “I can bring them through the buying and negotiation process much more quickly.”

TAKE ACTION:
Revisit your marketing budget and sales team’s practices, then consider how you might incorporate these conversion-boosting tactics.