How To Multiply Your Sales & Results - Entrepreneur & Small Business Marketing
By Shana Lynn Yao
““Nothing in life is hard if you dare to scale the heights.” ”
Two of my friends who built a super successful dog clothing company (they were featured in Buzz Feed, E! Entertainment, the LA Times, and most recently had launched a small dog clothing line) - they brought me a Chinese scroll of this quote and it's the one thing that will help you multiply your results (keep reading I'm going to give you some ideas to increase your sales below).
It's called THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX. That means that whatever you are currently doing, you actually (without doing more) could make a few simple shifts - outside of the box of what you currently think is possible, and those simple shifts could produce HUGE shifts in your results.
Otherwise known as "Upside Leverage", it's literally doing ONLY positive things that leverage your current resources without additional expenditures, and because of it, leveraging - AKA MULTIPLYING - your sales and results.
That is the complete opposite of what most people do. Most people only know what you know, and then when it doesn’t produce the results you want, you either stop doing it without asking WHY it’s not working, or you try to do more of the same thing (which is the definition of insanity). :o
So let’s just take an example so you can see the possibilities of something basic that probably you are doing now. So now, you probably send emails to people. You have a list (whether you have 2 people or 10,000.) It costs you the same amount of effort and cost to send one email out. Whether that email produces a 1% response to your call to action or a 50% response still costs you the same effort and money but (obviously) the results are much different.
Most entrepreneurs and companies, are more in the “doing” mode rather than the STRATEGIC mode. They are most worried generating revenue and sales, paying employees and bills, and worried about getting through to the next month.
Instead, being strategic means you are more focused on the END GOAL:
- Your BIG END GOAL in annual sales
- What direction do you want your company to grow into?
- Are your current activities going to lead you in that direction?
- What do your current results really come from and how can you grow those results?
All of that can be accomplished by changing and having a strategy. Strategy is literally just the things you are doing every single day, and asking yourself how you can make those things more effective without complicating your life and getting the results you want, because of it.
So how do you change or get a strategy?
The first thing you need to realize is whether you think you do or not, you actually have a strategy. It may not be producing the results you want or maybe you are working EXTRA HARD to try to produce results - but you do have strategy. It’s what you are doing every single day now.
Once you realize that then you need to take a step back. To actually stop focusing on making money or meeting your sales goals this week, but look at your BIG PICTURE GOALS for 1 year, 3 years, and 10 years. What direction do you want to go and are the activities you are doing now going to get you there?
“There is no sooner or later - only right now.” - You literally can’t get to your end goal “someday” without changing what you’re
doing now. Someday doesn’t exist.”
THEN you can then figure out what it is you’re trying to do, accomplish, build and sustain with your business while getting to your end goal.
What approach will get you the greatest outcome (results and sales) you want in the fastest period of time with the most sustainable activities and results.
Then (and only then) should you think about what tactics (email, video, social media, advertising, etc) and what things and possibilities are possible with each of those things.
Then you can break down a combination of multiple strategies (including ones that other companies in different sectors are successfully doing) for EACH of the current tactics you are using, to grow and multiply your results.
I know, it sounds so difficult but let me show you how it’s not. This week I was consulting with a major international fashion retailer. You know this retailer well (they are known for their over the board customer service). I was speaking with their sales manager.
She was explaining how their sales currently work. They set goals for the sales people and those people make a small base and then straight commission. They are incentivized by the amount they sell.
They had a store Instagram page but it had very few follows and low engagement (surprising for an international fashion retailer). So when I met with them, I noticed they were missing the strategy. They were doing things that were working “fine” and producing results, but the truth is, they are missing an ENTIRE whole opportunity to MULTIPLY THEIR RESULTS.
I explained the power of using Instagram. That even as an individual store location in the global company, with a location specific Instagram page, they should be using it to drive people into the stores, drive people to click on links, drive people to engage and want to turn to them for styling tips (think online customer service).
Additionally, they were missing the power of collaborations with Influencers. That since they are located at one of the top fashion malls in Los Angeles, who markets directly to fashion bloggers and wealthy women - something as simple as the sales manager direct messaging some of the influencers online, working with the shopping center marketing managers, shifting their Instagram strategy to it’s only fashion “brand”, featuring bloggers, micro influencers - the possibilities are endless.
The only reason they weren’t doing it was because they were stuck in “doing” mode. Because just like probably you - an entrepreneur, a solopreneur, or even a small business, what you don’t know you can’t do.
This article was written with the hope that you can open your mind and challenge your sense of what’s truly possible. With a little creativity and thinking outside of the box, you can start multiplying your sales and results.
Don’t do work you don’t need to. Don’t spend money on learning more and trying to do more. Your goal is to make sure that every activity, every investment, every opportunity, and every marketing effort, produces (multiplies) your expectations, your results, and your happiness and confidence.
If you need help, strategic marketing is my speciality. Let’s chat.
Hi! I'm Shana. I'm a Brand Strategist, a creative mind and a dog lover who believes in helping others do good in the world with your work. I'm all about helping clients uncover solutions to the blocks that hold you back in your business, to increase your abundance, and build a business and brand you are proud of.
I created TOTAL GENIUS to help you uncover your brand DNA. It's the solid foundation of your business based on who you are and what you love so that you can actually have a business that makes you rich - from the inside out.
After years of studying neuroscience, human behavior, and psychology, in addition to my award winning 28 year career as a business and marketing strategist, I discovered the art and science behind building a purposeful and profitable business by empowering your strengths and life experience and building it into your brand story that connects and sells.
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