If you’ve noticed your sales ratios declining, it’s likely time to reassess your strategy and look for missed opportunities in your approach. There are a number of ways a business owner can fall short in their sales strategy, but they all end up with the same outcome: decreased revenue.
Are you ready to kick the bad habits and take your sales approach to the next level? Here are five ways that you may be missing sales opportunities — and what you need to do to turn it around.
You aren’t assessing past events.
When you look at completed events, you can see where your clients were spending money elsewhere. This can identify opportunities for upselling, as long as it’s a product or service that meshes well with what you already offer. In terms of floral design, we have no business discussing stationery or gobo lights, but we can guide our clients in the right direction in terms of chargers, linens, and other table décor features. The key is to think creatively, while staying in your lane.
Your website isn’t updated.
There aren’t many wedding pros that love working on their website. I get it, it’s not glamorous and it certainly isn’t helping you get through your real work. However, this simple maintenance task is a must for bringing in new leads. Be diligent and have your information readily available. Include your phone number, email address, and physical address if you have a storefront. Don’t be secretive about these things; people will contact you how they feel most comfortable and, if you’re not giving them options, they will likely look elsewhere. I also like to include a part in my contact form about the best way to communicate with me; I do this for transparency so any prospect will know the quickest way to reach me.
Your peers don’t know what you offer.
If you offer additional items beyond your flagship service, use your network to your advantage. Make sure that your creative partners know about those things so that they can share it with their clients. Collaboration is the ultimate sales opportunity because it can happen organically without much effort. I love working with planners who know I provide linens, too — they know that I can get to the venue early and drop the linens before all of the rentals event get there. It becomes a mutually beneficial relationship because we can pick up where the other leaves off.
You think the sale is over with a signed contract.
This is one of the most missed sales opportunities, as it doesn’t happen in the prospecting or negotiation stages. Just because the client is booked doesn’t mean you need to stop selling. There are many chances for upselling your products or services to provide your client with a more holistic experience while also boosting your bottom line.
Lay the groundwork during the prospecting phase by mentioning possible upgrades. Then, use it as a touchpoint down the line to bring in extra rentals, a custom fixture, or an add-on service. For example, as a floral provider, we prioritize centerpieces — once those are situated, I’ll shift the conversation to upgraded linens to complete the look.
You aren’t evaluating your sales and marketing efforts.
If you don’t know what works and what doesn’t, your sales approach isn’t sustainable. You need to take the time to understand the analytics for your website to determine where people are coming from and address issues like a high bounce rate or low clickthrough rate. You cannot be effective in sales if you don’t see your consumers’ behavior. Use vanity URLs and UTM parameters to your advantage; create landing pages in order to track where people are coming from. For example, something as simple as www.yourwebsite.com/BridalShow19 will show you the success of your outreach.
If you identified with one or more of these situations, commit to changing your business operations in order to address the issue. Any improvement to your sales strategy is another step closer to an efficient and sustainable future for your business.
Katie Easley is the owner of Kate Ryan Design, a luxury floral and event design studio based in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is also a top sales consultant in the wedding industry, specializing in prospecting and client experience.