Sales are one of the first indicators of store performance. If you want to increase sales in the store, then your actions will be aimed at attracting customers to the store or how to increase the average check.

Store sales growth

How to choose the most effective way to increase store sales

Which method should you choose to get the fastest possible result? To understand how you can increase sales in a store, you need to determine what format it belongs to. What kind of customer is it intended for? Is it a supermarket with an area of ​​over 1000 m2 or a “convenience store”? Azbuka Vkusa and Pyaterochka have two completely different customers and two different approaches to increasing sales.

Some stores target the budget conscious shopper who wants the lowest value. In others, customers value service more.

If you have a discounter, then the service is not important to him. People will put up with pallet display, with goods in boxes. But they will strive to get favorable prices. Increasing sales for the budget conscious is, first of all, increase in average check.

If you have a supermarket or a “convenience store”, then the prices will not play such important role... The buyer comes to it, wanting to receive a certain service level... Such a buyer does not want to stand in lines and waste his precious time. An increase in sales in it is an increase in the frequency of purchases.

If you urgently need to increase sales in a store, then the easiest method is to increase the average check of the store. The goods are displayed in the additional display areas, the impulse goods are placed everywhere. The availability of the product is ensured, and people begin to purchase more and more.

The buyer came for milk, but at the entrance he saw a mountain of fruits, on the way he noticed his favorite sausage, and on the way out the child took a toy. And now, along with the milk, the buyer already has a full basket of products.

goods

This is the first thing to pay attention to if there is a negative trend and you need to increase sales in the store. If the product is not on the shelf, then no one will buy it. The buyer should know that here he will always find the cottage cheese he needs or his favorite sausage. To ensure the availability of goods, you need:

1. 1. 1. Correct work with . The buyer must be satisfied with the wide assortment in the store. All the goods he needs must be in stock.
      2. Timely export of goods to the trading floor. Correct organization work, lack of deposits in the warehouse.
      3. Control over the availability and layout of product groups aimed at forming a price image. Presence , , Formation of daily reporting, allowing you to make sure that the most important groups of goods are always in sufficient quantity.
      4. Pallet and seasonal displays.
      5. Working with the assortment of goods, making changes to the assortment matrix.

Encouraging impulse purchases

The stimulation of impulse purchases allows to effectively and quickly increase the average bill. This is the purchase of goods that the buyer did not initially plan to take. How often have you entered a store with the thought of buying items from a list, and at the checkout found a lot of unplanned items in your cart? These are all impulse purchases that increase in-store sales.

1. Neat layout in the checkout area. Tempting display of goods in the waiting area. Availability of sweets for children.
2. Cross-merchandising is cross-selling, when the purchase of one product is the purchase of another - accompanying one with it. Therefore, we lay out the goods taking into account the comparability of the products. For beer - chips, for pasta - sauces.
3. Permanent availability, , The buyer, perhaps, did not plan to purchase the product, but when he saw a profitable offer, he decided to buy.
4. Learning "sincere service". When you don’t know what to buy, and the seller unobtrusively helps you to make a choice.
5. Carrying out tastings. Especially effective for new products.
6. Attraction with aroma. The scent is the strongest stimulus that influences the subconscious of the buyer. Think of the smell of aromatic bread or fresh baked goods. But scent can also be repulsive with its obsession. As a result, pleasant odors can increase store sales, while unpleasant odors can decrease.

Quality and product presentation

You walk into a store and you feel comfortable. As a result, you spend more time in the store and buy more items.

1. The neat display of the goods allows the buyer to easily find what he needs.
2. Clean equipment and goods. Lighting and feeling of freshness. If you put discounted rotten fruit at the entrance, then the sales of the entire store may decrease. The feeling of purity and light is not always perceptible, but it affects the subconscious of buyers.
3. Timely clearance
4. Compliance with the conditions of storage of goods.

Increase in purchase volume

The goods are purchased in a larger volume than originally planned. Often, the buyer is ready to buy more volume if the offer is profitable. For this, promotions are used, for example When two or more items are sold at a better price than one. Or promotions, when related products stimulate the sale of each other ("buy a brazier and get firewood as a gift")

Increasing the average price in a check is more difficult than increasing the number of goods and their volumes. In this case, the buyer should give preference to a more expensive product than he usually buys. This is possible if the buyer feels that the value of the product is higher than its price. Sincere customer service. Clarification of product values, incentives to purchase new products.

Attracting customers to the store

Attracting customers to the store, perhaps if our regular customers start visiting us more often or by attracting new customers.

Increase the frequency of purchases

Player Buyers - People's Addiction to Promotions

There is a segment of buyers who track promotions. They are waiting for the promo and expect to purchase the product with additional benefits. If on the day of the start of the promotion the goods are not displayed, then this outrages the buyers.
A customer may come specially for some kind of advantageous offer, and, not finding it in the store, he will leave and may never return. "You have printed a catalog, here is my favorite sausage at a discount, but you simply do not have it!"
At the time of the start of the promotion, all promotional items must be displayed in the store. Product availability must be checked on a regular basis during the promotion. On the night before the start of the promotion, an additional shift of employees is displayed to display the promo goods.

Timely replacement of price tags

Every day in stores about 10% of price tags are set incorrectly. If a customer discovers an inaccurate price in a check, he loses confidence in the store and may stop visiting it. This problem is much larger than it might seem at first.
For example, there are about 250-300 promotional items in the store's promotional catalog. For all these goods, price tags must be printed, cut and posted. Shop floor employees spend about four hours changing price tags on the day the promotion starts. It turns out that for half a day the store is only engaged in changing price tags. It is necessary to change the price of the outgoing promo and the upcoming promo. But the incorrect price can alienate the buyer, and the next time he goes to your competitor.
Withdrawing an additional team of employees on the day of the start of the promotion to change price tags. Appointment of a person responsible for changing price tags.

Most entrepreneurs who started their business from scratch, and experienced businessmen are worried about the issue, how to increase sales in the store?

This article will cover 9 effective ways that can increase profits.

A big plus: they will not require additional substantial investment in implementation.

How to increase sales in the store: identifying the main factors

Before moving on to the main topic of how to increase sales, it is necessary to determine why their level depends:

A huge role in the sale is played by the arrangement of products on shelves, shelves or hangers.

There is even a special "science" - merchandising.

It is also important how the product looks.

For example, it will be difficult to persuade a client that this meat is worth buying if it looks like it has been on display for a week.

Products must be intact, clean and presentable.

1. Also, of course, the level of sales depends on the ratio of price and quality.

Now let's move on to exploring the basic tricks that will help increase sales.

9 actionable ways to increase store sales

Rule # 1. The more expensive the better

For every visitor in the store, the sales assistant must closely monitor.

And not because the buyer can take something for himself and not pay for it at the checkout, but in order to offer the product more expensive on time and thereby increase the number of sales.

Sounds absurd?

For example, a sales assistant noticed that a visitor is already ready to purchase a hat.

At this moment he comes up, and without any obsession and tremors in his voice offers a similar product, only 15-20% more expensive.

Of course, not just like that.

In doing so, he refers to the fact that his proposed hat:

• several orders of magnitude better than the previous hat;
• produced by a well-known company;
• this brand will be popular in the next season;
• be in the status of exclusive accessories, etc.

No fashionista can resist such a list of merits.

In addition, psychology is at work here: most people cannot pronounce the phrases "this is expensive for me", "I want something cheaper."

This move allows you to increase the number of products sold, despite the fact that "misfires" in this scheme, of course, do occur quite often.

But even if 30-45% of all visitors fall for such a trick, then this method will increase conversion by 22%!

Rule # 2. More is Better

For a consumer to buy not one, but several products, he needs a good reason.

Let's go back, again, for example with a hat.

Only in this case, the seller should increase sales by offering to additionally buy another position in point of sale rather than a similar product.

For example, buy matching gloves or an elegant scarf for a new hat.

In no case should an employee be forced to try on the offered product and be intrusive!

This will have the opposite effect.

The customer can even continue to bypass the store by the tenth road to avoid this "pesky character".

The seller must demonstrate the second item by describing its merits.

It is important to explain to the person why he should leave with two purchases at all.

For example, noticing that the proposed scarf is in harmony with the chosen hat, while creating a full-fledged fashionable look.

This is a good trick to boost in-store sales.

Rule # 3: How to Drive In-Store Sales with a Companion Offer?

This rule is in a sense "consonant" with the previous one.

Every clothing store contains items that can additionally increase sales, but are usually not offered to customers when choosing a basic item.

This is the so-called small things, which are usually displayed in the checkout area or on small counters in the sales area.

Such related products can be:

• scarves;
• hairpins;
• umbrellas;
• bijouterie;
• various cases, wallets.

How it works?

For example, a man buys jeans.

At the checkout, he is offered to purchase an additional pair of men's socks.

They argue that then the purchase amount will reach the required minimum in order to open a discount card.

Few of the buyers will refuse: socks will always come in handy, and participation in the accumulation system is an opportunity to save on purchases in the future.

The consumer thinks that this is a profitable investment, and he agrees.

Even if the entrepreneur's benefit from one such sale is small, if you sum up the results of the month, then the increase in sales using this method becomes obvious.

Therefore, store owners should not refuse to use such zones, and also need to motivate sellers and cashiers to mention the existence of such goods to buyers.

Rule # 4: Don't Forget Your Customers

Use methods that will allow you to find out the contact number of the buyer at the time of sale of any product.

Most easy way- this is to ask to fill out a small questionnaire, for which the client can receive a discount card.

In this way, you can create a database of store visitors.

How will this help to increase sales at the point of sale?

The collected contact numbers of consumers are used for calling.

Here's how consultants might argue for calling a buyer:

1. Informing about new deliveries to the store.
2. Messages about profitable offers.
   For example, “buy one razor as a gift for a man on February 14, get the second as a gift” or “we will wrap it in beautiful gift paper for free”.
3. To find out why the client has not visited the store for a long time, and whether he has any wishes regarding the service or product.

The ability to work properly with such a tool is a real art.

It is worth doing this only for those employees who have good diction and know how to work with objections.

They also provide a good response rate, and will also increase in-store sales.

The effectiveness of this method is confirmed by statistics:

Rule # 5. Enter a discount card

To increase in-store sales in this way, it is necessary to become familiar with two sides of the coin of this process.

The positive side of the coin

How to increase store sales?

Basically, an increase in the number of consumers. A discount card allows you to "get" them.

Buyers will always be attracted by the opportunity to save money.

For example, a girl wants to buy herself a purse. This model is located in two adjacent stores. Only in one does she have a discount card, and in the other she does not. Of course, she will go to buy goods where there is at least a small savings awaiting her. Reasonable, isn't it?

With the help of discounts, we can increase sales by attracting more customers, rather than increasing prices.

Negative side

When such cards are issued to regular customers, the store loses the lion's share of profits.

Whatever one may say, but the amount "underpaid" by the buyer is the lost profit of the outlet.

Therefore, the advisability of using cards must be calculated in each specific case separately.

Each owner will decide for himself whether to use this method of attracting visitors.

But its effectiveness cannot be denied. Moreover, the efficiency is gradually increasing.

Pay attention to the comparative statistics of whether the presence of discount card for attendance:

Rule number 6. Bonus program to increase sales

This is another move aimed at boosting store sales.

Calculate medium enterprise and add about 25–35% to it.

This amount will be the control minimum for the bonus program.

For example, the average check in a store was about 2,000 rubles. Then, to receive bonuses, the buyer will need to cross the threshold of 2,500 rubles (2,000 + 25% = 2,500).

Come up with some gifts as a reward.

This can be either the products of the store or any products of partner companies.

This method can be used to increase sales in the store.

In addition, teach your employees to say the following words: “You made a purchase for 2,320 rubles.

If you purchase goods for another 180 rubles, we will give you one of the gifts to choose from:

• a plush toy;
• Lantern;
• trinket;
• pen;
• fridge magnet".

It can be anything! The main thing is to interest the buyer and make him pay even more.

Also, instead of gifts, according to the terms of the bonus program, you can accrue points that customers can spend on purchases in the future.

It kills two birds with one stone: it attracts people and makes them become regular customers.

The scheme is as follows:

Rule # 7. How to increase store sales with promotions?

This list is 10 better ways how to boost in-store sales would be incomplete when you consider promotions.

Promotions will always exist, because this is the easiest way to increase the volume of goods sold.

They allow you to motivate a person and incline them to spend more than they originally planned.

The most effective scheme that will help increase sales is 2 + 1 or 3 + 1 (buy three items and get the fourth as a gift).

This method not only allows you to increase sales in the store, but also helps when changing products to a new collection or moving to a different season.

The store sells several things at once that could lie without being sold, instead of writing them off and sending them to stock centers.

In addition, this method will help to increase the number of customers in the store.

It was noted that information about such actions is being disseminated with the help of word of mouth.

Rule number 8. "Book of complaints and suggestions"

According to the law, every business must have such a book and issue it at the first request of the client.

But often the owners completely ignore their presence: the document is sent "to the table", and issued only with urgent requests ("otherwise you never know what nasty things they write to us").

Meanwhile, this may be one of the reasons why it is not possible to increase sales in the store.

Are you surprised?

The fact is that, based on complaints and suggestions, self-respecting boutiques or retail outlets determine what exactly is lacking for customers!

Of course, you shouldn't offer every visitor to leave a record there.

Instead, you can enter short polls.

They can be carried out by cashiers when selling goods, and you can also place a box for requests and wishes in the sales area.

Buyers can be asked how they feel about:

• the level of prices in the store,
• variety of assortment,
• service personnel,
• atmosphere in the store (playing music, decor, product layout).

In addition, you can unobtrusively ask to leave a comment about the work of the outlet on the site.

This will not only provide feedback, but will also attract new people to visit you.

Answer sheets should be USED to improve the operation of the point of sale, and not sent to a distant box.

Then you can increase sales by fixing potential problems.

The video shows practical advice to increase sales from an experienced entrepreneur:

Rule number 9. Communication with the client

To increase in-store sales, you need to think about more than just selling “here and now”.

Work for the future.

For example, a person bought an expensive tablet, phone, laptop in your store.

And suddenly, after a day or two, the store representatives call the buyer and ask:

1. Is the consumer happy with the purchase?
2. How quickly did you manage to set up an expensive purchase?
3. Do you need help in mastering the technique?
4. Do you have any suggestions to improve the store?

Agree, this gesture is very pleasant.

Everyone will appreciate this kind of care.

In addition, you will definitely want to tell your friends and acquaintances about this step of the store.

Word of mouth is an effective method of free advertising.

The methods listed above will help you decide how to increase store sales.

But we must not forget about the main thing behind the "tinsel": the key to the success of a retail outlet is customer care, high-quality goods and highly qualified sales consultants.

If everything is in order with this "base", the methods described in the article will help to increase sales in the store in a short time.

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As you know, three conditions are necessary for anyone who wants to trade in good order: money, account and order.

Increasing sales: 101 tips for a salesperson

The most important of them is cash and all sorts of other values, without the help of which it is difficult to trade ... The second condition of trade is to be able to keep books correctly and count quickly ...

The third and last prerequisite is to conduct your affairs in proper order and properly so that you can get all information about both debts and claims without delay.

L. Pacioli

Starting its trading activity, every company, regardless of whether it is successful or not, dreams of how to do so in order to sell more.

After all, an increase in sales is a 100% increase in the company's profits. And this only brings benefits, since it appears more money, the company is expanding, the salary of employees is increasing, from an ordinary seller to the director of the company.

Everyone knows the saying that money is never superfluous. Making it so that there are more of them is not easy, but by taking certain steps towards increasing sales, even a novice entrepreneur will achieve success.

Indeed, most often failures overtake not because a person does nothing, but because he does not know what to do. The problem always remains relevant. So what should you do to significantly increase sales? What methods and tools should you use?

Are there specific tools to increase sales?

In such a matter as increasing income from trade, there is not so much technology. There are so-called tools used to increase sales, which, when properly implemented, increase work efficiency:

Although there are not so many methods, but with constant application, they are guaranteed to increase sales growth. It is worth taking a closer look at them, and learning how to correctly apply.

Methods to Increase Retail Sales

Everyone wants more. And the increase in retail sales is based on methods that have already proven themselves positively:

• Cross-selling. When buying one thing, the client is offered to provide the appropriate service. For example, having bought an aquarium, the buyer orders the service of its installation and maintenance. And everything is in one place. The store only needs to have agreements with such companies, attract customers and receive a percentage from this.
• Upselling. An offer of an additional purchase to the main product. Suppose, when buying a phone, it is immediately offered to buy a SIM card for it, or the purchased bouquet is packed for additional cost... You just need to adhere to the rule that the cost of an additional service should not be higher than the main purchase. In such cases, an increase in sales can generate 30 percent of the profit.
• Determination of the purchase threshold. There is no specific model here, only the imagination of the store owner. The general gist is as follows:

1. By making a purchase, the cost is higher than a certain amount, the buyer receives free shipping, a coupon for a raffle or a gift.
2. Buying two products, the third is given free of charge.
3. When making a purchase for three products, the buyer gets them for the price of two.

The list can be continued for a long time. Each store tries to come up with something of its own, looking for new ways to increase sales:

• Payment of change by goods. This technique is not very common, but quite interesting. The buyer, paying for the goods, receives change not with money from the cash register, but with goods from the store, for example, matches or sweets.
• Yellow and red price tags. This method has become recognizable for a long time. In many supermarkets, goods that expire and no one buys are sold at discounted prices, and this is what price tags of different colors indicate.
• Limited time on price or discount. This formula for increasing sales strongly motivates buyers, forcing them to make a purchase at this time.
• Possibility to return the product if you don’t like it. Moreover, there is a law that still obliges you to take the goods back if they are returned within 14 days after the purchase.
• Price tips. The price tags contain information that both the other and the third are being bought with this product. The client, seeing this, will definitely purchase something in addition to what he wanted to buy.

The listed methods will make it possible to increase retail sales at any point of sale several times. They also guarantee that the buyer will return for the next purchase to this particular store, since they were offered so many different things there that it makes no sense to look elsewhere.

Methods for increasing wholesales

In addition to retail, there is also wholesale. It is the sale of large quantities of goods that provides a significant increase in wholesales. Any leader strives for this. To achieve the best results, it is required, as in retail, apply various methods and techniques:

• Emphasis on the professionalism of the staff. Indeed, often, a lot depends on the seller or manager. And in order for professionalism to be developed, employees should be regularly trained and given the opportunity to practice the acquired skills in practice.
• Only high-quality goods at the most affordable prices. The best value for money is attractive to wholesalers more than any other metric. Selling such a product constantly increases and strengthens a positive reputation, and this gives an increase in sales efficiency a considerable share.
• Creation of your own transport department. This gives additional benefits in the uninterrupted supply of orders. Of course, significant financial investments will be required, but after a certain time they will pay off and bring additional income.
• Building a good marketing department. Its specialists must research the market for products sold, look for new opportunities, fully optimizing all processes.

All these methods are exactly what you need to increase your sales. By observing them, an entrepreneur can be sure of the success of his business.

10 tips for negotiating price with a customer during a sale?

Determining the price of a product is the right way to sell. But you still need to present it to the client and convince it of justice. It is not just the ability to bargain that can lead to the result, but constructive dialogue. What keys can you use to negotiate a price successfully?

Imagine a company N., which is engaged in the wholesale supply of X components for Y enterprises. On the market this company has been around for several years, there is a base of regular customers, profits, things are slowly going uphill ... Well, everything, in general, is more or less normal.
Now introduce the sales force of this company. A large bright room, desks, computers, telephones, printers ... Managers, of course, in business, already glazed suits, sit - spit at the ceiling, poison jokes ... Between the passage of a new level in a "standard" office toy, they process incoming requests from partners. Once upon a time former department sales has evolved from a machine that actively pushes the market into a perverse semblance of customer service. Yes, of course, they have new clients, but from where ???! In this regard, the reputation and marketing policy of the company helps out, that is, our, if one may say so, “merchants” work, on the incoming stream and “don’t blow up”. Moreover, they get pretty good money for all this.

What led the department to such a “collapse” decrease in the efficiency of its functions?

And what to do to optimize its activities?

The reason is simple. Managers in the process of “filling” the client base constantly increased the number of processed incoming requests. Accordingly, the search time became less and less. And one day the number of clients reached the maximum that the manager can handle. He works with them for a day, another, a month, six months and then BAM !!! “Wow: I just sit in the office, and the work goes on, the salary is growing ...”. What happens next - but nothing: the merchant, step by step, begins to degrade ... He becomes lazy: to make a couple of calls - now it’s a whole problem for him, and to hold a meeting - WHAT ARE YOU, WHAT A MEETING: “the soldier is asleep - the service is on” !! ! Such managers are dangerous because the indicator of IBD (imitation of violent activity) is very high for them, this already works at a professional level. As soon as the boss enters the hall, everyone immediately grabs their phones, starts counting something, writing, and even asking the head of the council: “Ivan Ivanovich, I just talked to the client here, he asks for a two-week delay, should I give it or not? "
Heads of departments, intoxicated with the joy of reports arriving on time, do not even realize that they are losing a huge pile of money every day, that competitors have been ahead of them for a long time and the market is dividing in their own way.

What is the best way to act in such a situation !?

You will not be able to make them work as before, never and under any circumstances - this is 100%, if you want 1000%. Therefore, do not even waste your strength and nerves. Because they will sabotage in such a way, albeit “skillfully”, that it will not seem like a little!
And consider! They already have such friendly relations with clients that, if they wish, they will take all their accumulated base to competitors.
However (but fortunately), everything is not as bad as it seems at first glance! And the decision will not be long in coming!
With such an alignment of forces, it is necessary to simultaneously build a new commercial service, while the old one will smoothly grow into a customer service department - customer service.
You will have a new organizational structure of the sales department, which clearly separates new customers from those who make systematic purchases. Some sell, others serve, the most logical sales model!
It is important to consider that customer service personnel require less qualified personnel. Minimum program: knowledge of the product, market specifics, plus a computer. This means that the wages in this department will be much lower, therefore, soon, your overweight "comers" will be replaced by young girls of pleasant appearance.

2. Adjust the motivation system for your salespeople.

A well-built motivation system is a very serious tool for increasing the efficiency of the sales department, and it doesn't matter what kind of sales you are talking about b2b or b2c.
In one of the companies, there was such a case. The managers of the commercial department, in addition to the bonus from the first sale, received a small percentage of current payments, i.e. from those clients whom they brought a long time ago and now they are served by the client department. So, after a couple of years, this small percentage was enough not to receive a salary. The manager found out by accident that it is so easy for employees to get money. Once he overheard a conversation between a "seasoned" businessman and a newcomer in the smoking room, who said: "You will work for two years, and then you will live on interest with the current ones. The main thing is to be quiet: do not be late, submit reports on time, smile, there are “incoming” ones, we will share ... ”.
Imagine how much money was wasted, horror.
If the “dogs” are full, what a hunt there can be! (may the sellers forgive me for such a comparison).
The motivation system is a powerful management lever! The main thing is to use it correctly.
Revising ratios and percentages is just as important as changing sales plans. Many companies work “the old-fashioned way”: the standard scheme is +% salary. But it doesn't work anymore, forget it!
If you want to keep salespeople in good shape, if you want high intensity in their work, then take into account other indicators when calculating salary: the number of calls (cold, repeated), the number of meetings, the number of contracts, conversions, average bill, average time "From a call to a contract", execution of orders within the framework of the project (to improve the quality of service, to study customer demand, etc.).
Of course, the main principle of any motivation system is its transparency and ease of perception. But fortunately, today's capabilities allow us to make this calculation automatic and take into account dozens of employee performance indicators. For example, the easiest way is Excel spreadsheet... A manager filling out a daily report can immediately see his results in the context of one day or week, how much he completed, from the sales plan, what needs to be tightened up, where the norms have already been exceeded.

Check the relevance of your motivation system!

3. Set sales plans

Maybe someone will consider this method absurd, but believe me, there are many commercial organizations where there is no sales planning, and if there is any, it is only formally.
No sales plan = bankruptcy plan.
The planning process is nothing more than creating a virtual model of what is going to happen. If you do not have a sales plan, then it will be very difficult for you to assess the efficiency of work and measure the result, and without measurement, there is no management, in principle.

Let's take a look at the main stages of drawing up a sales plan:
1) Planning starts with an annual sales plan. Yes, from the annual!
Without complicating it, you take the indicators for the past year (100 million rubles), add to them the percentage of growth in the industry (10% = 110 million rubles) and add the percentage of growth that you would like to receive (10% = 121 million rubles) ...
2) Next, you break down the plan by sales channel, according to your specifics, for example:

• Current dealers (40% = RUB 48 million)
• Newly attracted dealers (20% = 24 million rubles)
• Tenders and government purchases (10% = 12 million rubles)
• One-time corporate orders (10 = 12 million rubles)
• Own sales network (20% = 24 million rubles)
• Etc. (1 million rubles)

3) The next step: we break down these amounts by sales department and by each manager personally. Current dealers - for customer service, new ones involved - for the commercial department, then - for the corporate orders department, directors of chain stores, etc.
4) After that, you divide these figures into quarters and months, taking into account the seasonality, the experience of the previous year, the product range, and so on.
Using this simple method, you can set sales plans for all departments for the whole year.
It's important to note one trick!

Ideally, a sales plan is drawn up, as it were, from two sides: from your employees, and directly from you. When they are agreed upon, something in between is born, and the manager perceives these figures as a document developed by his own hand, and therefore thinks more about how to implement it, and not how to explain why it cannot be fulfilled.
Everyone has their own idea of ​​the future and everyone will think that his plan is "correct". You, as a leader, will say that the market allows you to grow and you need to use it! And the managers, in turn, will, fighting back, say that their life is hard, the market is not rubber, there are a lot of competitors, and that Russia is not Europe.
Get ready for this!

4. Provide “total” knowledge of the product.

In fact, not all sales managers are well aware of the product they are selling, no matter how strange it may sound. Every day, at meetings, a huge number of transactions are disrupted due to the incompetence of managers in matters of the specifics of the goods. This is especially true for technological products. I think: many people are familiar with the situation when during negotiations a client asks a question that you never expected to hear: “Please tell me the exact data on the coefficient of heat transfer resistance of your concrete, since we will use it in northern regions, for us it is extremely important ... ". At this moment, your eye twitches and your leg pulls together - what did he say? YOU pull out the phone, with the words: "Now I will clarify", - call the senior, and, not knowing how to formulate the question, you pass the phone to the client ...
Any buyer wants to work with professionals! Such a desire is justified at the level of human psychology - they trust professionals, and if there is trust, then there is a purchase.
First of all, the client should see the seller as an expert, an expert in his field, capable of solving any problem and knowing the answers to all possible questions.

Ignorance, or superficial possession of information about the product, puts the manager in a stupid position. The client forms an opinion about the company, communicating with a specific person, you can never explain to the client that “it was a newbie, forgive him, now we will send a pro, wait”. No one will wait for you! But you can definitely eliminate such situations in a simple way:

At first, collect all possible customer questions related to the characteristics of the product;
Secondly, naturally, write down the answers;
Thirdly, conduct certification, for knowledge of the product (who did not pass - is not allowed to negotiate);
Fourth, supplement the list with new questions that managers face in negotiations;
And finally, fifthly, in case of the slightest change in any characteristics or properties of the product, when adding a new product to the line, add new questions.

Thus, you will have a constantly updated "knowledge base" on technical specifications and product properties.
Conduct training in the form of "question-answer" - this is the simplest and most effective model of memorizing such material.
Naturally, it is impossible to foresee everything. Therefore, to reduce the risks of disruption of transactions, equip managers with tables, lists, photographs, any materials that will allow the manager to get out of an awkward situation when selling your product.

Example:
You are selling nails. Have your manager carry these nails with him to meetings, one of each. The table with the characteristics of the metal from which they are made: torsional stress, bending stress, tensile stress, what else is there - I don't know. And in the car, let him have a hammer, a board, and all the same notorious nails, but only from Chinese competitors. Doesn't believe that you have the most best nails, let him try (get him out of hand).

But what to do if, nevertheless, a situation has arisen when you do not know what to answer ?!

At first, do not worry! Until you start to worry, you retain the status of an expert.
Secondly, clarify the question by repeating what the opponent said (writing down). This will show that you are listening to him carefully and gently point out that you are not ready for such a question.
Thirdly, tell them that you have not been asked such a question for a long time, always with a smile, and looking straight into the eyes until he turns his gaze away. ("To be honest, I don't remember the last time I was asked about this ...")
Fourthly, turn your ignorance 180 degrees in your favor: appeal to the client's competence in this matter. Somehow: "... you rarely meet a real professional in our industry ...".
Fifth, ask permission to clarify information. It is better to do it in this form: "... let me clarify this data with the brand manager, perhaps something has changed, it will take no more than a minute ...".
These recommendations will be enough for the "gaps" in the knowledge of the product to gradually disappear, and the emerging ones - could not negatively affect the outcome of the meeting.

5. Form the "sales book" of the department.

What is a sales ledger?
In any business, there is a difficulty in adapting newcomers to a new place. Now I'm not talking about the "acclimatization" of a beginner in a new team, but about teaching him your technologies and principles of work. Of course have job descriptions, standards, regulations that fall on the head of a trainee employee: “Study it !!! I'll check it !!! "
Do you think there is such a knowledge base that will allow you to embed a new link in the sales process in a few days (3-4 days)? Which will allow, within a few days, to test a newbie. Do you have time for " probationary periods"? Can you wait for a newbie to "complete an internship", after which there is a chance to hear: "Nope, this job is not for me"?
So there you go! Such a "litmus test" is the "sales book".
Nothing stands still - everything develops! Our business is developing, our clients are developing, the offered goods are being modernized, the approaches to work are changing. What was a unique selling proposition yesterday is considered the norm in the industry today. How to manage to adjust all these standards and regulations, how to react with lightning speed to external changes?
The "sales book" will allow you to keep your business in shape!
Every day, our managers, fulfilling their professional duty, gain invaluable experience: they find new solutions for effective sales, initiate changes in the sales system, open up new opportunities for concluding deals ... Where can we accumulate this knowledge and findings? That's right - in the "sales book".

The main advantage of the "sales ledger" is that you get a tool for organizing a self-developing sales department.
About the principles:
There is no form or strict plan for creating this document. This is its essence. The main principle is that the document is “alive”. It is constantly changing, supplemented, both directly by the head and by the employees of the sales department. This form of experience exchange has a positive effect on the formation of the team spirit in the company. All experience and knowledge is stored in one place: all the techniques, all the answers to questions, the best objection exercises and effective speech modules - everything "that is acquired by back-breaking labor."
About the structure:
The Sales Book is based on two sections:
1. Organization of the sales process
2. Principles and techniques of sales
In the first part, you indicate all the schemes of interaction with the client: who is the client for you, what he looks like, how to work with him, the client's path, which documents to fill out, where to place them, pricing principles, USP, customer loyalty incentive programs, etc. ... In general, everything related to the sales process is contained in the first block.
The second block is devoted to the principles and technologies of sales applied in your company. For example, cold calling. It describes in detail what they are and how to do them.
Example:
Section 3.14. "cold calls"
Description: "cold calls" is a tool for attracting new clients to our company. "Cold" because the potential client does not wait for our call, and did not consider the possibility of cooperation with us. Blah blah blah…
Scheme:
1. Greetings - presentation
Script: Good afternoon, my name is….
2. Explanation of the purpose of the call
Script: Who can I discuss with ...
3. …
4. …
In short - so.

The main thing is that you describe in detail all the algorithms and specific scripts, preferably with an explanation: why we say this way, what technique we use. So that the seller's awareness of what he is doing passes.
Writing a sales book is a very creative process. I have come across "sales books" in which the organizational structure of a department, a description of business processes, and standard forms of reports are built in. This construction of the "sales book" is actually very convenient. I am sure that, after some time, commercial organizations will completely abandon standards, regulations, instructions and other bureaucratic "pornography". Personally, in my business, I have already abolished many documents. The simpler, the better and more effective. After all, it's not a secret for anyone that “everything ingenious is simple”! Is not it!?

6. Provide customer feedback.

How do you know what YOU are doing wrong? How to improve the work of the company so as to satisfy not only your own needs, but also take into account the wishes of customers? How do I know: how can my company be better than others?
Ask your clients about it.
Many clients, in addition to cooperation with your company, have one or more suppliers, that is, they work with your competitors.
Clients know the market situation like no one else. Who offers what, in what time frame and how they deliver it, what is new and when, and a lot of other information circulates in the client environment.
Feedback is not only a way to find out how competitors are behaving, what they are doing and what they are planning, but also a way to get ahead of them, that is, to use the information received when developing USP.
Naturally, you shouldn't ask: “Well, what are our competitors doing there? ". The “feedback” questionnaire should contain a question of this nature: “What changes in the work of our company will allow us to count on an increase in the volume of purchases on your part? ", -something like this. It is possible in other words, but keeping the meaning - why do you work not only with us?
"Feedback" will help to learn about the affairs within the company: about minor problems that are not so significant, but create certain inconveniences in the work.
For example:
If your warehouse opens an hour earlier, it will be convenient for 5 of your clients. Agree: it is worth paying the storekeeper for an hour of work, if it is important for such a number of clients.

So, create a feedback questionnaire. Build the questions in such a way that the answer is detailed (open-ended questions). Use graded questions. The number of questions is not critical and depends on the number of points of contact between the client and your company.
Example:
1. What should be changed in the work of our company?
2. What additional goods or services would you find convenient to purchase from us?
3. Rate the professional training of customer service on a 5-point scale.
4. Rate our work.
5. ….

If, when answering a question with an assessment, the client says: "Yes, everything is fine - solid 4", - clarify: why not five.
Also, an important point in the organization of "feedback" is a systematic approach. That is, it is not enough to call the client once a year with the question: "How are you?"

The effect of this tool will be felt only in two cases:
1. You will conduct customer loyalty audits on a regular basis.
2. Based on the information received, decisions will be made and concrete actions will be taken.
Appoint a person responsible for "feedback", set aside a day for collecting information and compiling a report. Do not call too often, one call per month is enough. Conduct a quick survey (for example, questions about aptitude of employees and usability), and once a quarter, do a detailed survey with suggestions and recommendations. Also take into account the seasonality of your business, if you sell diesel fuel for combines to farms, then in January, call with the question: “What will increase the volume of purchases? "- a little silly.
Implement feedback and use the information as intended.

7. Reach customers with cold calls

In b2b sales, there is such a thing as cold calling. It is nothing more than the main active sales tool for attracting customers. Many companies neglect this method of increasing profits, and very much in vain. The skeptical attitude is easy to explain:
firstly, someone tried to implement "cold calls" into their sales model, and without getting the desired effect, they abandoned them forever;
secondly, the marketing policy of some companies allows you to attract a certain number of customers exclusively through advertising, and in principle, this is enough for them. But most likely, I would like more!
In the first case, everything is clear: not knowing how to fly the plane, you should not sit at the helm. Illiterate cold calling can do more harm to the company than it can yield any positive results.
In the second case, the situation is more complicated: things seem to be going on, the number of clients is growing, what else is needed for business development, but ... Imagine: managers of the closest competitor make 100 cold calls a day ... And what do you think: in whose favor will the market share be another year later ?!

So, in order to attract customers with the help of "cold calls", you need to start making them! How do you ask? In eight steps:
1. Divide the region in which you work into sectors: if you work for the whole of Russia - divide Russia, if you work for the whole world - cut the globe.
2. For each sector, assign a responsible manager (he may have several more managers subordinate to him, then they divide their sector into several more).
3. Each manager needs to collect all contacts of potential clients in his sector, and all the necessary information about them.
4. Collect all the contacts of your competitors in this sector, and information on them.
5. Make a SWOT analysis of the market based on the information received, and develop offer for each sector.
6. Create a cold call script.
7. Set a plan for the number of "cold calls" per month and per day.
8. Implement a daily report (Excel format is fine) on the results of calls.
In principle, this will be enough for your "cold calls" to work and start giving positive results.
It should be noted that a systematic approach is imperative when using this tool. The first calls will not be as successful as we would like, but everything comes with experience.

8. Structure the negotiation process.

Your manager returned from negotiations, and to the question: “Well, who are they working with now? ", - answers guiltily:" I don't know, I forgot to clarify. " How, then, is it possible to build a profitable commercial proposal - yes, no way. And to call back with the question: "I forgot to ask here ..." is at least stupid.
In general, “forgot to ask”, “forgot to clarify” is a widespread phenomenon among active sales managers. This is due not only to the qualifications of employees and the lack of proper experience, but also to the notorious "human factor". Serious workload, irregular schedule, high intensity, sales plan - all this affects the quality of negotiations. Especially if the meeting with the client falls in the evening, when the head no longer "cooks" and really wants to go home, turn off the phone and go to bed.
I will tell you about the easiest way to improve the efficiency of your negotiations!
To make the negotiations easier, faster, and more effective, use a simple but extremely effective tool-
"questionnaire". What it is?
This is an A4 sheet with a list of questions to ask at the meeting.
How to compose it?
To begin with, you need to write out, in the form of questions, strategically important information that is necessary to draw up an effective commercial proposal:
What suppliers does it currently work with?
- what positions does it buy, and in what volumes?
- priority dates?

In general, all information that, in one way or another, will influence the formation of the proposal, should be indicated in the "questionnaire":
1. Then these questions need to be arranged in the order "from simple to difficult". That is, you should not ask at the beginning of negotiations what level of capitalization of their investments when signing the contract, the client expects.
2. Start with simple questions, or better, in general, abstract, not related to the topic of negotiations. Place difficult questions that require argumentation in the middle and towards the end of the list. End negotiations also with simple questions that require a positive answer.
3. Make space between questions to record the client's responses.
4. Try to have at least 10 questions in your “questionnaire”. If their number is less, then there is a risk of missing important details, and besides, such a document will not look serious. The point is that it is necessary to use this tool openly. That is, during negotiations, you put on the table a “questionnaire” in a beautiful, branded daddy, and, without hesitation, use it for its intended purpose, while writing down the client's answers.
This tool will allow your managers to structure the negotiation process. The meetings will take place in the "channel" set by them. That is why they will easily control the course of negotiations and their duration. Such a “questionnaire” shows the client that your employee is not an ordinary manager, but a well-trained professional, and he is here to resolve the client's issues. The document lying on the table disciplines the opponent. The seller, on the other hand, feels confident at any "cost" of negotiations.

9. Check what your salespeople are doing.

Take a close look at your sales team. Are all managers in their workplaces now? Probably not. Someone at a meeting, someone on a business trip, someone at lunch, and someone left, on behalf of the accounting department ... or went to a stationery store for paper ... but you never know how many cases in the office, on which you can disappear on an hour, or even an hour and a half.
Perhaps some types of work indirectly affect the results of sellers: preparation of a contract, mailing out correspondence, preliminary calculations, booking a hotel or tickets. But if all this takes at least 20% of the seller's time from the main job, then you are losing at least the same amount of profit in profit.
You pay the manager a salary - this is the amount that is the payment for the daily obligatory operations. You also pay interest on sales - this is a premium part for its immediate results. But in practice, you pay for his trips to the store, and long calculations of the cost of the first batch, and the preparation of accompanying documents, and a lot for what else you pay, without even knowing how much money passes by.
But the most interesting thing is that when asked: “Where have you been? ", - You will be answered, with full confidence in the eyes and voice:" So the paper ran out, delivery is long, but urgently needed - so I ran away quickly ... "(1 hour). The congruence of what is happening will confuse anyone, but ...

In any scenario and in any circumstances - the SELLER MUST SELL!

If this is not the case, you are losing money. Even if the manager is the only one who can go for the ill-fated paper, let him go Chief Accountant Otherwise, he will not find work in the future. By the way, from the accountant, especially the main one, you can hear the opposite: “This is not the task of the accounting department” - remember, this is your accounting department, and YOU pay them, so what they will do for you is so - by the way.
How can this problem be solved?
First, you need to find out: how much “working time” the sellers spend “to the left”. This is done using the timing of working hours. Every day, managers must fill out a form in which they write down everything, absolutely everything, the operations that they do during the day (the more detailed, the better). In front of each operation, they put the start and end time of work on it. This must be done within a week, no less. Most likely, you will not receive applause from your employees when you tell them about the innovation, this is normal. Explain that this is being done for their own good, and you just need to understand: are they not overwhelmed, that the measure is forced and for only one week, in the end: "I am a leader, and it is up to me to decide whether it is necessary or not." Yes, and more, the data must be submitted daily. In the first days, literally stand over them, checking the filling.
This simple tool will allow you to seriously discipline managers - many unnecessary things will go away by themselves.
Secondly, according to the data obtained, it is necessary to divide the time spent directly on sales (cold calls, meetings, preparation for negotiations, repeated calls, presentations, etc.), and operations that are not typical for the position. If you get more than 10% of "left earnings", you need to take action. Which?
Everything that is not related to sales, and what has been said a lot above, does not require special qualifications and deep knowledge. Accordingly, such work can be performed by an additional employee with a lower salary (as a rule, a small salary).
For example, when making calculations, one manager spends 25% of his working time “to the left”. On average, one seller sells for 100,000 rubles a month, spending 75% of the allotted working time on this. Thus, you will not receive,
approximately 33,000 rubles per month. This 25% can be outsourced to a personal assistant. Hire a secretary manager, or an administrator, or whatever you call him, for a minimum salary (15,000 rubles, for example, for a correspondence student, not bad money), and this secretary can work for two, or even three managers: preparing documents, answering by e-mail, making simple calculations, agreeing on the time and place of the meeting, booking tickets, hotels, etc. It will do everything that takes away precious capital from the manager - the time you pay for.
An assistant, for 15,000 rubles, will pay for itself in the first month, and your sellers will also like this form of work when you can prepare papers for signing a contract without waiting for the end of the meeting.
By the way, more about the benefits of working time timing. Pay attention to the amount of time spent on reporting, it should be no more than 15 minutes a day (if the reports are daily).