Assume that you have developed a new product and it’s ready to launch in the market. You probably also have a sales and marketing strategy in place to distribute and promote the product. You’ve also planned to track certain KPIs to track the business performance. But is that it? Will that give you the entire picture of how your product is performing in the market? Not really! That’s precisely why you should understand and apply the concept of sales volume. Sales volume determines the number of units of a product you sell in a particular time period. Now the question is, how to increase sales volume? This article will explain the concept of sales volume in detail along with the tried and tested strategies to increase it. So, let’s begin!
The concept of sales volume doesn’t focus on the financial gains from a product. Instead, it determines how many units of a product you sold. While estimating financial gain is essential, an insight into sales volume can help you identify business health to a large extent.
Marketers are often confused about their existing selling strategies and are clueless about how they should make adjustments to them. The sales volume metric helps their deep insights in that range and helps in making informed decisions.
So, now the question is how to find sales volume? Is there any particular formula?
Yes, there is.
Sales Volume = [ No. of items you sell per month * Necessary period ]
So, if you sell five books in a month on average and you’re trying to find the sales volume for a year, your sales volume will be = 5 * 12 = 60 books a year.
Here are a few strategies that you can apply to improve your current sales volume:
Increasing sales volume means selling larger units of a product. So, make sure that you know your products inside out.
These include having an in-depth idea of the key features, so you know what to emphasize . Knowing your product’s Unique Selling Point (USP) can help you stand out in the crowd.
Here’re some questions to consider for understanding the product better:
Once you find the answers to these questions, it will be easier to sell the products.
Do you know your target customers? Do you have any idea what their expectations are from your products? What specific problem do they hope it will solve for them? Remember that 36% of customers are looking for personalization from their purchase experience.
So, it’s better that you research your prospect, discover their demands, and then approach them. Without a personalized sales approach, customers will hardly consider buying from you. Therefore, don’t forget to conduct in-depth research as it is one of the best ways to increase sales volume.
If you’re ready to increase your sales volume, start with assigning your top-performing reps to high-value prospects-- those whose purchase intent matches your product most closely and so are most likely to convert into paying customers.
Evidently, there’s a lot at stake when it comes to these high-value prospects, and you cannot risk losing them. So, it’s always a smart idea to assign experienced and top-performing reps to those prospects. They’ll know how to qualify such leads quickly.
However, the question is, how do you find out who your top-performing reps are? You can use sales analytics software like Salesken for that purpose. It can help you analyze the sales conversations of your reps to find out how efficiently they are nurturing and converting leads.
This could mean easier identification of your best-performing reps and employing them to handle high-value prospects.
Do you know of the concept of pain-based selling? Let’s simplify it for you. In the pain-based selling process, a brand interacts with prospects to identify their pain points.
Next, they try to convert these pain points into benefits for the prospects. It is one of the best ways to increase sales and business volume.
Here are some questions that you can ask your prospects to develop a comprehensive idea of their pain points:
You can see that all these questions are open-ended. By asking these questions, you make the prospects feel valued and open up about their pain points. Once you know their pain points, you just have to show how your solution can fix their problems.
Do your sales and marketing teams bond well with each other? There should be some team-specific goals, but at the end of the way, both these teams should focus on increasing the sales volume for your business. Don’t forget that. That’s precisely why you need these teams to go hand-in-hand.
The marketing team i
s responsible for generating leads, while the sales team knows how to persuade the customers in converting those leads. So, strong communication between these two teams can bring wonderful results for your business.
Sales teams should master their time management skills to increase business volume. A structured approach to time management can help to maximize results. Sales managers should make a list of all actionable items like cold calling, coaching the reps, prospect research, performance analysis, etc. Once that’s done, they should allocate time for each of these activities to reduce the scope overlapping.
The core idea behind time management is to make efficient use of time i.e. do more in the same amount of time or do the same work in less time. Also, the targets should be practical and based on the rep’s potential. That means if you ask a new rep to complete 30 cold calls a day, they’ll freak out for sure. So, maintain a balance.
No matter what others say, word-of-mouth marketing is still a thing.
Did you know that 64% of marketers still believe in word-of-mouth marketing? So, when you’re planning to increase your sales volume, going for word-of-mouth marketing is always an option.
Some organizations leverage referral programs to trigger word-of-mouth marketing. They offer crazy referral bonuses, gift cards, etc. That is indeed a smart way to increase sales volume and uplift your customer base.
We strongly believe that building relationships with customers can also pay off in this case. When customers are happy with your service and support, they’ll surely recommend your products and services to others, even if you don’t offer a referral bonus. So, work on nurturing customer relationships too.
Ever wondered what affects sales volume? A major reason could be that you’re not offering enough reasons to your customers to buy from you! And what’s a better reason than crazy discounts? Discounts can serve to bring onboard new customers who may continue to purchase. They can also boost loyalty from existing customers. If you can put out generous offers and massive discounts to customers, they’ll seriously consider buying from you.
Discounts do not always mean offering flat price cuts. You can also target “Buy 1 get 1 free” offers, cashback offers, loyalty points, holiday discounts, and any other option that goes with your customers’ purchase intent. Also, know that you have to communicate these offers with your target audiences. Apart from your regular sales channels, you should also promote these offers on social media to make the most of them.
An underrated strategy to increase sales volume is focusing on existing customers. These customers know you well, they’re already fond of you, and they’ll definitely purchase from you if you offer what they need. In fact, existing customers’ purchase rate is 67% more than new customers. So, start working on your customer retention strategies to increase sales volume.
Here are some ways to incorporate customer retention strategies:
Wondering how to find new customers and increase sales volume? Never stop cold calling (link to cold calling blog). Consistent cold calling keeps your sales pipeline full. Furthermore, reps who are involved in regular cold calling can also enhance their sales skills and expertise to improve sales volume.
Cold calling offers real-life exposure to the reps. It helps them to get familiar with customers’ expectations and handle objections better. We know that cold calling often gets frustrating. However, reps should never stop trying.
To speed up your sales process and ensure an increase in sales volume, you must use a sales enablement tool.
A sales enablement tool like Salesken can help you with the following:
Hence, with a sales enablement tool by your side, your sales volume is bound to improve.
One of the best ways to increase sales volume is by creating packages. Packaging is a great way to position yourself in the market. For example, if you create a package with one main product and a few complimentary products, customers will be interested in buying them. Rather than confusing the leads with too many options, offer personalized packages to maximize sales volume.
Motivated reps are key to increasing sales volume. And the best way to do that is by offering regular incentives. There should be a flexible compensation structure to appreciate the hard work of the reps. However, some reps may not fulfill their targets. Sales managers should analyze their performances and suggest improvement strategies. Education, understanding, and appreciation is a better strategy than pressurizing the reps.
Setting sales goals can surely improve the productivity of your team, but make sure that you’re setting realistic and achievable targets. Your sales goals should be specific, practical, and data-driven.
15. Leverage strategic partnership
You can also increase sales volume by launching strategic partnership programs. Find marketers or strategic partners who would be interested in your products; they can promote your products to their customers, and you can do the same for them.
Suppose you’re running a content marketing agency while your friend is running a web development company. You can refer your clients to your friend’s web development services, whereas your friend can refer you to their clients. This would be an ideal strategic partnership. However, this strategy to increase sales volume is very effective but only works for relevant products.
Increasing sales volume takes time and effort. If you’re a newbie, stay patient. Apply these strategies, and give them some time. Sooner or later, you’ll surely notice the changes.
Salesken is a powerful tool that leverages AI to help identify the most valuable leads, supercharge rep performance and increase your sales volume.
While financial gains are crucial, sales volume complements them. Balancing both perspectives helps you make smart product decisions.
It’s recommended to regularly review and adjust sales strategies to respond to business and market changes. This could be on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis, depending on the business needs.
Yes, effective time management can help salespeople focus on high-value activities, leading to higher efficiency, productivity, and ultimately, more closed deals.
Yes, excellent customer service can lead to repeat purchases, referrals, and increased trust, which can all contribute to higher sales volume.
Sales reps are crucial in identifying potential customers, generating leads, and closing deals, which directly contribute to increased sales volume.
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