Markets are becoming more competitive, making it essential to implement different commercial strategies that allow you to stand out from the competition to increase your sales.
Whether you are dedicated to selling products or services, you need to take time to design a commercial strategy that suits your company . Consider that this is a plan to follow and you should monitor the results to adjust or change it, as necessary.
What are trading strategies?
When implementing commercial strategies, you must be clear about several points, but the main one is what are they?
A commercial strategy is a set of actions to attract customers, compete in the market, improve sales to achieve business objectives and optimize company performance.
For this reason, it involves a series of interrelated mini strategies . That is, the points we will talk about in this article are not exclusive of each other.
You must understand that commercial strategies cannot be applied as a recipe, where you are presented with the ingredients and steps to follow to implement them robotically. It is important that you identify the actions that best adapt to your product or service, your possibilities and, above all, your target market .
Importance and benefits of trading strategies
As we mentioned previously, business strategies are personalized routes that each company creates and follows, according to its particular situation, needs, context and interests.
Thanks to the great flexibility of commercial strategies and their adaptability , they can be implemented to achieve various objectives that the company has. For example, you can create it looking to grow your business, increase your sales, improve your presence on social networks, among others.
At the end of the day, commercial strategies can increase sales, yes, but also keeping them stable for a time, positions the company and allows it to survive and keep it relevant in the market.
Regarding the benefits they represent, they are:
- You save : thanks to the defined plan of what you are going to do and how you will do it, you will be able to allocate the specific budget you need to carry it out. This prevents you from spending money, effort and extra resources on strategies that make no sense.
- Concentration of efforts and resources : thanks to the strategy, your collaborators will know specifically where they should focus their resources and their efforts, since everyone knows where they are aiming and the objectives they are seeking with the actions to be taken.
- Company positioning : improving brand positioning goes hand in hand with the search to increase sales. The greater the exposure, the greater the prospects. In addition, you will achieve better performance with your target clients, since it is necessary to carry out an exhaustive study of your target market and segmentation, but we will delve into this later.
Examples of trading strategies
We have established that commercial strategies do not work as a recipe book and each company must work on the one that best suits its clients, etc. However, we share some examples of strategies that can serve as a starting point.
Innovative product or service
When establishing a strategy, you must thoroughly understand your customers and their ailments . Therefore, with a strategy focused on creating an innovative product or service, you must ensure that it has the specific characteristics that meet the needs of your customers. This way, you can also attract new prospects with the same problems.
Exceptional Customer Service
When a company focuses on providing quality customer service , it builds customer loyalty, since they realize that, if they need it, your company is capable of resolving doubts or helping them in other situations they encounter.
For a strategy with this objective, it is important to consider the training of your customer service staff , so that you have the correct skills for problem solving, interpersonal interaction and the commitment to want to help.
Price strategy
To work on a commercial pricing strategy, it is necessary to conduct competitor pricing research to find an area of opportunity and offer better prices. Likewise, you can focus on the application of promotions or discounts .
This type of strategy must be meticulously thought out and ensure that it will not represent a loss for the company. You should also consider the price-to-earnings ratio .
Cross selling
Cross-selling is about offering more than one product to customers or prospects. To implement this strategy you can find products that complement each other , so that you can offer them and there is a reason why the customer should buy both and not just one.
How to develop a commercial strategy?
- Diversify dissemination channels : to fully understand which channels you should focus on, it is necessary to have perfectly defined your segmentation and your ideal clients, know the main media they consume and their habits.
Don’t limit yourself to analogue media as spectacular, remember that you can also take great advantage of traditional media such as television or radio, not to mention social networks.
- Make sure you solve your customer’s problem : When advertising and reaching your prospects, make sure you send the right message. Know your consumer’s needs well and bring out the benefits that your product or service represents.
- Defined language : get closer to your consumer by speaking their same language. The power of words to create trust and closeness is impressive, which later translates into closing sales. Have well defined the type of language that you will use for your brand, so that your target audience can feel identified and, above all, understand what you are trying to communicate to them.
- Sales proposition : stand out from the competition by showing your prospect that your product or service is unique in the market. We have already mentioned that you must know the needs of your consumers, so that your sales proposal focuses on highlighting the aspects of your product or service that focus on solving said problem. Focus on highlighting how you resolve your client’s predicament using defined language.
Taking into account these fundamental bases for the development of your strategy , it is time to delve deeper into commercial strategies focused on increasing sales, or sales strategies.
Commercial strategies to increase sales
A commercial strategy focused on sales, or sales strategy , is a comprehensive plan that seeks to optimize the sales process , whether for products or services. As we have mentioned, the strategies and what they entail are not exclusive of each other, however, now we are going to focus more on actions that focus on increasing sales .
For sales strategies we continue to implement aspects such as:
- Defining objectives : what do you want to achieve?
- Understanding the market and ideal client : who is your ideal client? what do you need?
- Market segmentation : who do you want to reach?
- Value proposition : what is unique about your product or service?
The commercial strategy that seeks to increase your sales, regardless of the product, service, client or channel through which it is sold, must include :
- Definition of sales channels to implement.
- Objectives of each channel.
- Means to achieve said objectives.
- Budget of each channel.
- Time of development.
- Type of actions, frequency and order.
- Analysis and correction tools.
Bases for your sales strategy
Know your consumer
We cannot repeat it again, but there are many companies that forget to know their consumers . For example, a company that designed a very good commercial strategy for its sector, with a unique star product in the market; However, the prospects that arrive turn out to be not your ideal client and, therefore, they are unable to close sales.
This can happen when the strategy is not focused on the appropriate audience , the efforts and resources are being used correctly, but it is essential to have an assertive technique , using information about your consumer to ensure personalized communication based on what they are looking for and their behaviors.
Exploit the advantages of your product
You cannot sell something that we do not know in depth, nor build trust with a prospect about a product or service of which we do not know its characteristics or functionalities.
Take the time to perfectly understand the strengths of what you are selling, fall in love with the product or service so that your customers do too. Highlight the benefits it offers to make that difference in the purchasing decision.
Identify the weak points of your product
Nothing in this life is perfect , not even our star product. That is why it is important to prepare for doubts or insecurities that customers may have about your product or service. Work on possible arguments and responses that help calm the rejection that may be generated in your prospect, so that their confidence grows and they decide to buy it .
Types of commercial sales strategies
Now, there are numerous commercial strategies that you can explore, combine and adapt to your sales objectives, always taking into account your context, your clients and your products or services. Below, we share 5 basic ones .
Commercial strategy for direct sales
A direct sale usually refers to the direct interaction between seller and consumer . Within a strategy to increase direct sales, it is important to pay extra attention to what the consumer says, whether with words or with their body language .
Best practices for direct sales are:
- Listen and observe your client to fully understand what they are looking for.
- Get to know all the products you offer to know which is the best solution to your problem.
- Be prepared for those who ask for discounts and learn to deal with these requests that are usually not viable.
- Maintain a positive attitude , as it is very easy to convey our attitude to customers. Work on your charisma and bring it out to offer a unique experience.
- Identify opportunities where a purchase can be complemented with another product you offer.
Commercial strategy for sale of services
Compared to selling products, selling services can be much more complicated, since the customer does not have the opportunity to see or experience said service beforehand.
Therefore, maintain your client’s trust by giving real information , do not promise something you cannot achieve. One of the best commercial strategies for selling services is « word of mouth » , a client recommended such a service to her friend and that is why they choose to go with you.
However, we cannot rely solely on word-of-mouth recommendations , therefore, some tips to give a twist to your sale of services and improve sales are:
- Prepare well for the doubts and comparisons that prospects may make about your service versus the competition.
- Focus on generating a unique experience and offer personalized service for each client. Humanize your brand and your treatment to generate that trust and build loyalty.
- Take advantage of testimonials from past clients to reinforce your company’s image.
E-commerce
There are few companies that do not use digital media to enter the market and reach more customers. Therefore, it is important to be prepared to face a larger market and competition.
To carry out the digital sale or through an online store, it is necessary to consider:
- Establish segmented digital marketing campaigns , separating your customers based on behaviors, demographics, age, etc. So you create specific campaigns for each group, facilitating conversion rates and increasing sales.
- Make the most of social networks , they are a right arm of e-commerce. Find the social networks where your target audience is most concentrated and work on improving the visibility of your brand on them.
- Implement online chat to improve customer service. In a world of immediacy, there is nothing better than ensuring that your prospect will receive a response when they send a message with questions. You can establish automated chats to resolve simple questions or give the option to speak with an advisor. Offering fast and efficient service can be decisive when making purchasing decisions.
- Plan an assertive email marketing campaign to send personalized messages, offer extra resources to your clients, etc.
