Mastering the Art of Sales Strategy: A Comprehensive Guide for Business Success

Customers are the lifeblood of any business, but for small businesses, they’re more like the oxygen keeping you alive. Maintaining a constant stream of new customers is crucial to the survival of your business. But as customer expectations continue to evolve, it becomes increasingly necessary to keep updated with modern sales techniques if you want to stay afloat. Most people don’t like to feel like they’re being sold to, which makes it really hard to sell to them.

Sales strategy is a vital aspect of revenue stability and business growth. Using the right sales strategies, you can establish a clear roadmap of how to effectively sell your products or services, acquire new customers, and improve customer retention.

Need a helping hand improving your sales strategy, converting leads into paying customers, and growing your business? We’ve got your back. We created this comprehensive guide to help local businesses master the art of sales strategy. The guide will provide an in-depth explanation of what a sales strategy is, go over different types of sales strategies, tips for selling effectively, and more. We’ll even share a template you can use to build your own sales strategy.

Ready? Let’s get started.

What is a Sales Strategy?

A great sales strategy is like a roadmap that guides your sales organization on how to navigate the sales process and helps them maximize sales opportunities. It is a comprehensive plan developed to increase revenue and optimize available resources. It outlines a systematic approach to achieving specific sales goals, such as increasing profitability, improving customer engagement, or expanding market share.

Benefits of a Sales Strategy

Creating a successful sales strategy is critical to the success of any business—but particularly small businesses that want to dominate their local market. Some of the benefits of having a sales strategy include:

Increased revenue: A sales strategy helps your identify your target audience and their unique needs, which allows you to tailor your sales efforts and maximize your revenue potential. By understanding customer behaviors, preferences, and pain points, you can develop solutions that resonate with your target audience, which leads to—cha-ching!—increased sales.
Optimized resources: With a sales strategy in place, you can allocate your resources more efficiently, focusing on the most profitable opportunities. This includes deploying sales teams with specific skill sets, using technology to automate repetitive tasks, and investing in advertising or marketing channels that generate the best returns.
Competitive edge: An effective sales strategy will help you differentiate your business from the competition. By identifying your unique value proposition and communicating it effectively, you can build stronger relationships with customers, encourage brand loyalty, and enhance your competitive edge.

Inbound vs. Outbound Sales Strategy

One way to categorize sales strategies is by inbound and outbound methodology. Let’s go over the differences between the two.

Inbound vs. outbound sales

Inbound Sales Strategy

Inbound sales strategy focuses on attracting, engaging, and providing value to prospective customers and fostering long-term relationships with them. It involves creating helpful and informative content, utilizing social media, and search engine optimization (SEO), to make your business visible and easy to find online. The primary goal of inbound sales strategy is to build trust with the target audience, increase lead generation, and convert them into loyal customers.

Outbound Sales Strategy

Outbound sales strategy, on the other hand, involves proactive outreach to potential customers through cold-calling, email marketing, advertising, direct mail campaigns, and other forms of interruptive outbound marketing. This method generally involves targeting a large number of potential customers with the goal of generating immediate sales through promotional offers and incentives.

The Main Differences

The key difference between inbound and outbound sales strategies lies in their approach to selling. An inbound sales strategy aims to create a strong brand presence by building trust and relationships with customers gradually. By providing high-quality content tailored to the target audience, an inbound strategy aims to attract customers, nurture leads, and convert them into paying customers. An outbound sales strategy focuses on pushing products and services directly to potential customers, aiming to make immediate sales based on promotional strategies.

So, what’s the best approach?

The answer to that question depends on your business’s individual goals and your specific target audience. Some businesses might benefit more from an inbound strategy, while others might prefer outbound, or even a combination of both. Regardless of the chosen strategy, the key to success is to have a sales and marketing approach that is tailored to the target audience’s needs.

Types of Sales Strategies

When you think of sales, you probably think of a salesman giving a pitch, right? You might be surprised to learn that top-performing sales reps only ‘pitch’ 7% of the time. As mentioned earlier, most people don’t like to feel like they’re being sold to. They are more likely to buy if they feel a personal connection to the company or the rep that they’re engaging with.

Sales pitch statistic

So…how do you sell in a world of people that hate being sold to? There isn’t one right way to close deals; there are various sales strategies that can help you effectively attract and retain customers. Let’s take a look at some common strategies.

1. Consultative selling

Consultative selling is a sales strategy that emphasizes the need for sales reps to be advisors or consultants to customers, as opposed to just selling them products or services. In this strategy, salespeople work with customers to understand their needs, problems, and goals, and offer recommendations based on their understanding of the customer’s situation.

Consultative selling can be applied in just about any industry, but it is especially effective when selling complex products or services that require more in-depth understanding. For example, a software company might use consultative selling when selling enterprise software solutions.

2. SPIN selling

SPIN selling is an acronym that stands for Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-payoff. It is a sales strategy that emphasizes questioning and understanding the prospect’s situation, pain points, and needs. This approach helps the sales rep identify the potential customer’s needs, offer relevant solutions, and highlight the benefits of their product or service.

This strategy is useful when selling products or services that have an emotional impact on the customer. For example, a life insurance company might use SPIN selling when selling their products.

3. Inbound selling

Inbound selling is a sales strategy that is designed to target prospects who have already shown interest in a product or service. In this approach, the sales rep contacts the potential customer after a specific action has been taken—such as signing up for a newsletter, engaging with an email campaign, or downloading an ebook.

Inbound selling can be applied in any business that has an online presence. It is especially useful for B2B businesses selling complex products or services. This strategy is also a great option for small businesses with tight budgets, because it’s a very cost-effective way of selling.

4. Relationship selling

Relationship selling is a sales strategy that focuses on building long-term relationships with customers. This approach emphasizes the importance of building trust and rapport with customers to win their loyalty, and it can be incredibly effective. A startling 86% of customers who feel an “emotional connection” to a brand are more likely to continue business in the future.

Relationship selling is useful for businesses that rely heavily on repeat customers. For example, a real estate agent might use this strategy when working with clients over an extended period. Because modern consumers care deeply about connecting with the companies they purchase from, this tactic is one that any and every small business should implement.

5. Account-based selling

Account-based selling is a sales strategy that targets specific accounts or customers with personalized messages and offers. This approach emphasizes the importance of understanding the customer’s needs, tailoring the pitch delivered in sales calls, and providing relevant value propositions.

It’s worth noting that this sales tactic might not be the best option for small and local businesses. Account-based selling is useful for businesses that sell to large organizations or specific niches. For example, a software company might use account-based selling when speaking with decision-makers at enterprise-level companies.

How to Build a Sales Strategy

Without a sound plan in place, your business risks falling behind the competition, losing customers, and missing out on potential sales. Fortunately, building an effective sales strategy doesn’t need to be complicated. Here are seven simple steps you can take to develop a winning sales strategy.

1. Set clear objectives.

The first step in building a sales strategy is setting goals. These goals should be specific to your business goals and initiatives, such as increasing revenue, building brand awareness, or acquiring new customers. To reach these objectives, you’ll need to define clear sales metrics and KPIs with measurable goals. For instance, you may choose to track sales volume, customer acquisition cost, or customer lifetime value. Setting clear objectives ensures that you’ll stay on track and have a way to measure your success.

2. Analyze your target market.

The second step to developing an effective sales strategy is to analyze your target market. You need a deep understanding of who you are trying to sell to if you want to prospect effectively. You should consider demographics such as age, gender, income, education level, geographic location, and lifestyle factors. Consider creating buyer personas your salespeople and marketing team can reference. Once you understand your target audience, you can develop a better understanding of their purchasing power and spending habits.

Next, gather data to understand your audience’s needs, preferences, and behavior. Surveys and interviews with potential customers are excellent ways to obtain valuable insights. You can also obtain data from sources such as social media pages, online forums, and customer reviews.

→ Need help assessing customer sentiment? Podium makes it easy to gather customer reviews and conduct surveys. Learn more here.

3. Assess the competition.

Another important step in building a sales strategy is to assess the competition. This allows you to gain a deep understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and use this vital information to differentiate your business from theirs.

To start, look at your competitor’s target demographic, product or service offerings, and pricing strategies. Take note of any unique value propositions that they have and analyze how you can (or already do) offer something similar—but better.

It’s also crucial to look at your competitor’s sales and marketing strategies. How are they promoting their products or services? Are they using digital channels, traditional advertising, or a combination of both? By examining their promotional strategy, you can determine new, innovative ways to stand out from the crowd and attract a broader customer base.

4. Design the sales process.

Now that you have a solid understanding of your target market and competitors, it’s time to get clear on your unique sales process. Remember, this process will serve as a roadmap for guiding potential customers from the first interaction with your business to the final conversion into paying customers.

We get it—creating a customized sales process can be daunting, especially when it comes to determining the key stages and milestones that are crucial to your unique business. To help you out, we created a free sales process template. By using our template as a guide, you can streamline the process and avoid missing critical elements.

5. Define value proposition.

Your value proposition is what sets your business apart from the competition. Defining your value proposition involves identifying the specific benefits that your products or services offer to customers. To do this, you’ll need to conduct comprehensive market research and gather information on the needs and preferences of your target audience, as well as analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.

Once you have a clear understanding of your business value proposition, it’s crucial to communicate it in an easy-to-understand and compelling way. Your messaging should clearly demonstrate the benefits of your products or services and how they address pain points or solve problems for your target customers.

6. Implement sales tactics and techniques.

Once you’ve defined your value proposition, it’s time to implement sales tactics and techniques. Not sure where to start? Pick a couple of the sales strategies discussed above and see what yields the best results. Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for selling a product or service. What works for you may not work for other businesses, and vice versa. Don’t be afraid to test multiple strategies as you’re getting started. It’s a learning process.

7. Monitor and improve.

The final step in building a sales strategy is to monitor and improve your strategy over time. This means tracking sales metrics, analyzing customer feedback, and making strategic changes that improve the customer experience. With Podium’s customer messaging tools, businesses can easily collect feedback, monitor customer sentiment, and respond to inquiries. This information can then be used to make data-driven decisions that improve the sales process and drive growth.

By following the steps above, you’ll be well on your way to developing an effective sales plan that will help you gain customers and grow your business.

10 Effective Sales Tactics to Maximize Your Results

Alright, we’ve talked about sales strategies and walked through how to put together a sales plan. Now, let’s get into the nitty gritty details.

Sales success is all about maximization of resources and productivity. To achieve desired sales targets, you must adopt effective sales tactics that can influence your prospects and customers while also creating values for them. When it comes to maximizing your sales results, there are different methods you can implement.

Here are 10 tactics you can use to maximize your sales efforts and boost your bottom line.

1. Utilize referrals.

One of the most effective ways to increase your sales results is by reaching out to your existing customers or contacts to generate referrals and new prospects. In fact, 76% of consumers have bought something that was recommended to them by a friend or family member.

With such a high percentage of consumers relying on recommendations from their social circle, it would be silly to ignore the potential of referral-based selling.

One way to encourage satisfied customers to refer their friends and acquaintances is to offer them incentives or discounts. This can be anything from a discount on their next purchase to a free trial of your product or service. By offering something of value in return, you’re not only showing appreciation for their loyalty but also giving them a reason to spread the word about your business.

76% of consumers have bought something based on a recommendation.

With such a high percentage of consumers relying on recommendations from their social circle, it would be silly to ignore the potential of referral-based selling.

In addition to one-off incentives, consider implementing a referral program that incentivize existing customers to refer their friends and family. These programs not only encourage referrals but also make it easier to keep track of who has referred whom and reward them accordingly.

2. Try cold calling.

Cold calling isn’t for everyone—it’s not easy to call up someone you don’t know and pitch them a product they’ve never heard of. That being said, cold calling is one of the oldest sales strategies in the book—and there’s a reason it’s been around for so long.

When engaging in cold calling, it’s essential to focus on the customers’ needs and wants. Research your target market and identify the benefits of your products or services that would interest them most. To make the most of your cold calling techniques, make sure you understand your customer’s perspective and show them how your products or services can benefit them.

Before you end the call with your potential customer, always give a clear call-to-action. This could be to schedule a follow-up appointment, send over additional information, make a purchase, or schedule a visit. Ensure that the next steps are clear, and don’t forget to send a thank you note after the call.

3. Form strategic partnerships.

Collaborating with complementary businesses or influencers can help to tap into their customer base and expand your sales opportunities. But choosing the right partner is key. You want to find businesses whose products or services complement your own, rather than directly competing with them.

For example, if you run a fitness studio that specializes in yoga, you could partner with a healthy meal delivery service, a yoga clothing company, or a local wellness center that offers massage and chiropractic services. These partnerships not only provide added value to your customers, they also help you to diversify your revenue streams by creating opportunities for cross-promotion and collaboration.

Once you’ve identified potential partners, it’s important to build trust with them. Take the time to get to know each other’s businesses and values, address any concerns or questions that might arise, and make sure that both sides of the partnership feel comfortable with the expectations.

4. Upselling/cross-selling campaigns.

Upselling and cross-selling can be a game changer for small and local businesses. Upselling involves promoting additional products or services to an existing customer base, while cross-selling entails promoting related products to what the customer is currently using. Both strategies effectively increase the overall purchase value, which means more money in the bank for your business.

Upselling is particularly useful for businesses because it allows them to turn a one-time customer into a repeat customer, while increasing the revenue per customer. Cross-selling, on the other hand, is a great way to introduce customers to other products that they might not have considered purchasing.

When implementing these strategies, it is important to present the benefits of upgrading the product or service, while at the same time adding convenience for the customer. This can be achieved by showing them how the upgrade will benefit them and improve their experience or simplify their life in some way.

5. Automate your sales efforts.

Don’t waste time working on tasks that could be automated. One of the best ways to automate tasks is through the use of customer relationship management (CRM) tools. CRM tools automate tasks like scheduling appointments, sending follow-up emails, and lead tracking. Sales automation increases sales efficiency, freeing up time that can be spent on other crucial tasks.

Podium is a CRM platform designed specifically for small businesses. With Podium, you can send the right messages at the right time and create a personalized experience for every customer. And because Podium centralizes all customer interactions in a single inbox, you can easily reduce response time and keep all of your employees in the loop on customer conversation history.

6. Leverage social proof.

Social proof is the act of using other people’s experiences to influence prospects and customers—and it is a powerful selling tool. 93% of consumers say online reviews impact purchase decisions. Leverage social proof to influence potential buyers’ purchasing decisions, displaying testimonials, social media reviews, or case studies. By showing how your products or services have helped other customers, you can inspire trust and credibility in new prospects and generate more sales.

Online reviews impact purchase decisions.

→ Need help collecting more reviews from your customers? We’ll teach you everything you need to know to build a 5-star reputation. Get the guide.

7. Prioritize personalization.

Spoiler alert: Your customers don’t want to feel like a checkmark on a long to-do list. The key to winning their hearts is personalizing every interaction.

Personalization is all about making your customers feel seen and heard. It helps businesses to build a relationship with their customers and cater to their specific needs. One effective way to personalize customer interactions is by using the data collected from these interactions to personalize sales pitches, product recommendations, and follow-up communications. This helps create a personalized experience for customers and is critical in building a lasting relationship.

8. Meet your customers where they are.
The customer’s buying process involves multiple touchpoints, from social media to online research and email inquiries. By meeting your prospects and customers at every stage of the sales funnel, you increase the chance of creating meaningful sales conversations.

In order to meet your customers where they are, you need to make it easy for them to contact you on any and every channel. Then, you must follow through with a response. To do this, consider:

Investing in a textable business phone number.
Installing Webchat on your website.
Making sure your name, address, and phone number are up to date across all of your online profiles.
Responding to messages and comments on social media.
Responding to reviews—both the positive and the negative ones.

9. Sell the benefits.

Selling is an art—it may sound cheesy, but it’s true. It’s not just about convincing potential customers that your product or service is great. It’s about showing them how it will make their lives better. Unfortunately, many salespeople make the mistake of focusing solely on the features of their offerings, instead of highlighting the associated benefits.

The truth is that most customers don’t really care about all the technical details of a product. What they really want to know is how it will benefit them.

So, when trying to sell a product or service, spend the majority of your time and energy discussing the benefits. Will it save them time? Will it help them be more productive? Will it make their lives easier or better in some way? These are the questions that truly matter to buyers.

10. Focus on the long-term.

To maximize your sales results, you need to focus on the big picture. Provide value-added services or products that can keep the customer coming back long-term.

When it comes to building lasting relationships, it’s important to remember that trust and reliability are critical components. This means delivering on your promises, being responsive to customer inquiries and concerns, and going above and beyond to ensure their satisfaction. By prioritizing these factors and focusing on the long-term, you can create a customer base that not only sticks around but becomes enthusiastic brand advocates for your business.

Transform Your Sales Strategy with Podium: Start Seeing Results

If you’re looking for a tool that will help you enhance your sales strategy, drive better outcomes, improve customer communication, and grow your business more effectively, you’ve come to the right place.

Integrating Podium into your sales strategy can transform the way you communicate with your customers, ultimately leading to better outcomes and increased revenue.

With Podium, managing all interactions—from review invites to people contacting you from your website, to text campaigns and payments—is easy and convenient. Podium also makes it simple for you to gather online reviews and build an online presence that is sure to attract attention.

By choosing Podium, you can stay ahead of the game and provide the type of experience that customers expect in today’s rapidly evolving market. Think of it as your secret weapon.

Don’t wait any longer to start seeing results. Start a free trial today to see how Podium can help you grow your business.