You know that closing a deal is critical to your growth and success as a small company owner, and many other small ecommerce businesses owners question if there is anything special they can do to improve their close rate.
Every day, more businesses are turning to eCommerce platforms to reach their customers. One of the most important decisions that a company can make is what type of software they should use for the management of their online sales. There are many advantages to using eCommerce product management software. The tools allow companies to optimize the customer journey and increase customer engagement without having to hire additional staff members.
1. Listen to your Customers and ask them Questions
PandaDoc Product Specialist Josh Gillespie thinks it’s critical to “peel the onion” and ask as many pertinent questions as possible while qualifying.
The types of questions you ask are important.
You’ve probably heard this before, but when speaking with a potential customer, consider asking questions as if they’ve already purchased your product or service. Instead of asking if they want to buy, inquire about how they intend to pay. Inquire whether they plan to utilize your product or service at home or at work.
“Your prospect will often omit information from you that they do not believe is relevant to the conversation, but the more you know about your prospect and the complexities of their business, the better chance you have of demonstrating value.” Gillespie, Josh
2. Make the most of your abilities
One trick to increasing sales is to disclose outcomes with potential customers. This allows them to understand how they can grow and scale their business or meet a personal need; it also makes it simpler for them to buy what you’re offering because they can see results. Customer testimonials can very handy in this situation.
3. Offer Coupons and Freebies
Everyone likes it when they get free stuff. It is a well-known practice to offer different kinds of freebies and coupons to certain customers. Although it is considered to be associated with large-scale businesses, small eCommerce businesses can benefit from it too. For example, you can offer free coupons after a customer fills out a survey or a questionnaire. Many companies offer these kinds of discounts. Companies such as supercouponsurvey provide special discounts to customers who take part in customer feedback surveys. You even can use these surveys to enhance your performance.
4. Take Special care of your loyal customers
When online sales stop, our first thought is that clients have lost interest in us and have left. It’s a lot easier to keep and persuade clients who are already familiar with your brand and products than it is to find new ones from scratch.
It’s extremely likely that you’ve neglected to look after your most devoted customers. How often do you study and listen to your major audience to find new requirements, trends, or segmentation?
Each visit to your online store, an existing consumer spends on average more money, adds more things to their shopping cart, and gives greater sales conversion. You should develop marketing actions that refresh the memory of these loyal customers and make them feel cared for, such as mailings with recommended products based on previous purchases or searches in your store, information about products that are out of stock or will be launched soon coupons, and birthday greetings…
Also, find out what your customers like to buy and make them bestsellers on your platforms (80 percent of your profits come from 20 percent of your product catalog). If these things have already satisfied a large number of clients, they will be able to persuade more people who share the same profile. Furthermore, highlighting some highlights makes it easier for a new client to discover your catalog.
5. Introduce a New Product
Expanding your business is the most expensive strategy to increase online sales, but it is a way to improve your e-commerce conversion rates. However, you’ll need enough money and time because launching a new product can take up to 12 weeks. From finding suppliers to coming up with attractive custom packaging and marketing materials for the new product, the process can be time-consuming, not to mention expensive. Of course, if your company or retail outlet sells products that are easy to create and require regular new collections (such as apparel or shoes), this step is necessary to avoid an out-of-date brand and e-commerce site.
You can publish product pages with pre-sell or out-of-stock stock products if you’re hesitant of releasing a product from scratch and would rather research some reactions first. You can also activate a “Notify me when it’s back” button to collect information about how many people are truly interested in that product.
6. Enhance content quality
Figures make e-commerce specialists salivate, but the quality of product content is the most important factor in all of these techniques.
Aside from costs, product knowledge is the most important factor in buyer behavior. This holds true for all of your catalog materials: the more content you provide to clients, the higher your online sales conversion rate will be.
Because e-commerce is a manly visual medium, take attention to product photographs. Useful and diversified photographs should be included in your product pages. Create bullet points and descriptions with distinct features and purposes. Examine SEO and experiment with the new keyword and phrase combinations. Photographs can be added to your testimonials. And video is the way of the future: time spent on a page increases by up to 88%. Even a short video may make a tremendous difference, describing your product more clearly and increasing your reach through other channels including social media.
7. Equip yourself with a PRO information management
You must maintain things running smoothly in the background and avoid repeated duties in order to fully devote yourself to these acts. Data analysis, synchronization of channels, image formats, and distribution of information… Hundreds of tiny chores that, when totaled up, consume an enormous amount of time and resources.
But don’t worry; you’ve got a superb hidden strategy in place to boost online sales using digital solutions that automate content management and multichannel marketing. This type of software, such as a Product Information Administration (PIM), which is available from any device, relieves you of catalog and product information management and ensures a seamless omnichannel experience.
8. Utilizing Social Media
Depending on your specialty and audience type, the social networks with the highest conversion rates for e-commerce enterprises include Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit.
Examine the influencers sphere as well, not just the billionaire personalities: there are a lot of young people out there with specialty audiences who have a smaller impact but higher conversion rates. Offer prizes, discount codes, or event invitations while growing your fan base and gaining exposure through reposts.
According to Hootsuite, 75% of users take some form of action after reading a post on Instagram, making it a new wonderful potential to improve online sales using social media. The platform has even established a team in New York dedicated to its e-commerce capabilities.
Remember to curate your own social media accounts and alter them to peak sales seasons like Christmas and Black Friday. If you decide to give discounts from time to time, start with a relatively short duration of usage, such as a few hours because this creates a greater sense of urgency than coupons, which customers are more likely to forget. A Facebook store can also produce strong results, but you’ll need to consider the impact of the company’s recent privacy scandals on client confidence.
9. Reduce the rate of Cart Abandonment
Up to 67.45% of shoppers abandoned their online shopping carts, according to Baymard Institute. Prices, charges, and shipment times are the key factors, but your website or app design is also a factor.
You must provide a more flexible client purchasing experience, including more information, more payment alternatives (PayPal, Apple Pay, a variety of credit and debit cards, etc. ), and several deliveries and return options. Remember to use this technique for all of your online sales channels, notably mobile or mCommerce, because up to 67 percent of people prefer to buy from their smartphones because it is more convenient and faster. Make your website mobile-friendly and create an app where clients can save their preferences and personal info. Remember to send out recovery mailers to persuade your clients to return to their abandoned carts and wishlists.
To save personal information and payment data, it is necessary to have an SSL certificate. You can get a cheap SSL certificate in the market from different SSL providers. Once customers see a secured padlock and HTTPS before the domain name, they get assurance about online transactions.
10. Form an affiliate partners network
It’s tempting to work alone, and you may be wary of forming alliances with possible competitors. However, more personnel implies more effort and resources, and this way you can gain access to sales channels and customers you wouldn’t otherwise be able to track.
A partners program is a novel but highly effective way to boost e-commerce sales that benefit all parties involved. Other firms will be enticed to market your products or services in exchange for commissions (you can offer up to a 2 percent and 5 percent margin). Create an easy way for people to contact you, provide detailed information about benefits, and encourage synergy and goodwill in public events like trade exhibits and conferences.
Final Thoughts
The more strategic activities you implement, the higher your e-commerce sales will be. However, it’s critical that you analyze your flaws and select the most appropriate strategies for each stage.
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