When it comes to tips and tricks to generate new sales, everyone and anyone involved in business management has their own school of advice. How are you supposed to tell, however, which techniques are actually worth implementing? We’ve collected the best and most creative ways to generate sales leads and find new customers, with the ultimate aim of increasing the turnover of your business.

1. Know Your Customer

Customers are the lifeblood of your business. As well as attracting new customers, it’s also important to retain your present ones. Not only are they a reliable source of revenue, but keep them happy and they’ll bring in new customers via referrals and recommendations.

It pays, therefore, to understand your customer base. Separate your customers into groups in terms of the value they bring to your business, and then target the most valuable customers with a referral system that offers rewards for bringing in new customers. This is an excellent way to find new custom, as it taps into existing networks.

2. Optimise Your Marketing Techniques

Some businesses view marketing as an all-or-nothing game – if a certain strategy or technique doesn’t bring in sales instantly, then it is discarded. If you’re serious about generating new leads, this is not the right way to approach marketing.

The first step to encouraging new sales is to engender customer awareness of your products or services. Consumers will buy when the time is right for them, but as long as they know what you offer, and are occasionally reminded of this, then you can rest assured that it’ll be you that they buy from when the time comes. Invest in a website if you don’t already have one, and investigate social media alongside more traditional forms of promotion.

3. Invest in Improvement

There’s always room for improvement. The will to improve is not enough to boost your sales volume on its own, however. Take some time to analyse the different parts of your operation and select areas for improvement. Your sales process could perhaps be streamlined, or maybe your sales team could benefit from additional training.

At the other end of the process, aim to improve your customer service provision. This could involve trying to maximise the income potential of every sale by making customers aware of additional value-added services or products that your company provides. Not only will this maximise turnover, but your customers will often be grateful for your taking a special interest in their needs.

4. Consider Clever Use of Discounts, Special Offers and Promotions

As a means to both attract new customers and retain old ones, offer things such as time, or increased quantity, or time limited enhancements or extra product or services, acting as an incentive for customers to move quickly to close the sale. Repeat custom can be encouraged by offering a rebate system for volume purchases or occasional discounts and perks to loyal customers with a stamp card.

5. Incentivise Your Sales Team

Employees can be incentivised too. A good management team measures and monitors employee performance, always keeping an eye out for areas of potential improvement. Pay could be linked to productivity, or bonuses for meeting sales targets could be offered on top of a base rate as a way to reward success.

Allsquare are professional accountants in Edinburgh offering financial and business services to help small to medium companies with business growth strategies. For more information, call Allsquare today on 0131 343 1510.