Small Business Today Magazine FEB 2015 TAYLOR CONSTRUCTION MANAGMENT | Page 32

EDITORIALFEATURE

The Only 3 Ways 

to Increase Sales – Part 1                   
By Howard Partridge

W

hat comes to mind when you think of the
word marketing?  For some, it’s advertising.  Others might think of networking,
branding, or the idea of getting your
name out there.  Yes, marketing includes those
things but marketing is actually everything you do
to attract prospects to your business.  Phenomenal marketing delivers a meaningful experience
that educates, engages, and entertains.  A phenomenal marketing system is a group of working
parts that duplicates results consistently.
What kind of results?  Enough of your perfect
target prospects to reach your sales goal consistently.  A phenomenal marketing system consistently produces your perfect target prospect.  If
you are attracting the wrong kind of prospect, your
marketing isn’t working.  If your sales are up and
down because you don’t consistently implement
marketing, then you don’t have a system.  Too many
business owners spend lots of time and money
getting their name out there but have no real system of attracting prospects consistently.  Most often, a small business owner’s marketing is a gamble
more than a planned effort.  Congratulations for
reading this article.  You now have the opportunity
to be one of the few who escape that trap. 

Regardless of the type of marketing you do, it
must increase sales.  Of course the sales process will
determine whether the prospect will actually buy
but it also depends on the quality of the prospect
you are attracting.  When you attract the wrong
kind of customer (because your marketing isn’t
what it needs to be), it doesn’t matter how great
your sales process is.  You may even close the sale
but you won’t build the kind of business you want.

The Only Three Ways to Increase Sales

Regardless of the type of business you are in,
there are only three ways to increase sales under
the sun:
1. Increase Sales from Existing Clients
The first and possibly easiest way to increase sales
30 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE [ FEBRUARY 2015 ]

is to get your existing clients to use your services
(or buy your product) more often or to use more
of your services (or buy more of your products). 
This can have a dramatic effect on your income. 
If you are not already marketing to your existing
client base, you could literally double your business with this strategy alone.  This is assuming that
you have something compelling and valuable to
offer your past and existing clients.  Marketing to
your past and existing clients is one of the most
important marketing activities you can do and not
marketing to your past clients is what I call “The
biggest marketing mistake of all!”
Most people are unaware that it costs approximately 500 percent more to gain a new client
than is costs to keep an existing one.  The client
already knows you.  You already know them.  They
have already paid your price.  They are the most
likely to do business with you, assuming that you
have a repeatable service, other products, and you
want referrals from them.
2. Increase Number of Clients
Speaking of referrals, the second way to increase
sales is to get more clients. This is the one that
people usually think of first.  Most small business
owners say that 85 percent of their business
comes from repeat and referral business.  Yet they
don’t have a system in place to maintain and increase repeat and referral business.  Most small
business owners say they build their business
through word of mouth but they don’t have a referral system in place.  There are many ways to get
more clients but the best way is through referrals. 
Next month, in Part 2, I will share how to put
your word of mouth marketing into a phenomenal system, what experiential marketing is, and the
third way to increase sales for your business.
Howard Partridge, President of Phenomenal Products, Inc. and
International Business Coach, is the author of 7 Secrets of a
Phenomenal L.I.F.E. and 5 Secrets of a Phenomenal Business. 
You can contact Howard by phone at 281-634-0404 or visit his
website at www.HowardPartridge.com.