Every business can see times when sales are slow, but repeating the same sales techniques and hoping for different results can lead to even more frustration for business owners. Instead, try one (or more) of these 11 ideas today to help improve revenue.
1. Upselling
For this you need good, better, and best product or service levels. Talk to the customers, understand their needs, and when a good fit, offer the more upscale version.
2. Cross-sell
Like you would with an upsell, base a cross-sell on the customers’ real needs, not an artificial sales quota, and offer complementary products and additions.
3. Increase prices
Many business owners are afraid to raise prices, but it’s often necessary. Offer lower-priced alternatives and give advanced notice of increases so customers aren’t taken by surprise; some will balk but most understand.
4. Lower prices
Dropping prices can mean more revenue at times, based on price elasticity. When customers are sensitive to price on a given product or service, a slight drop could mean a big sales increase. Look at which products you carry that have the greatest reaction to promotions and try a temporary price reduction. This is a technique used extensively by Walmart.
5. Remember that margin, not revenue, counts
Margin can be far more important than revenue. So long as your total margin dollars increase, slightly lower sales may still mean more money for your company.
6. Bundle sales
It’s the “Do you want fries with that?” approach to selling combined with cross-selling. Find natural add-ons to your products, and then come up with a bundle price that gives the customer a relative bargain while still delivering higher sales and more margin dollars.
7. Find more customers like yours
Profile the customers you have: demographics, what brings them to you, what they want and need, what they purchase most regularly, etc. Then research how to reach them via marketing, advertising, or even cross-promotion with businesses that are complementary to yours to find more people who are the same.
8. Sell online
If you’re not already selling online, start. It opens your business to many customers like yours in other geographies. You might use a platform like Amazon or eBay, or set up your own e-commerce site.
9. Focus on exclusivity
Exclusivity can give you room to charge more. Find hot products or services that aren’t available from your competitors and let your customers know you have them. This can become an ongoing process so that when your competition catches on and offers the same products, you’ve already moved to newer products.
10. Improve your closing techniques
Classic closing techniques — the tools your sales team uses to finalize deals — can help you get past surface objections and address the practical and emotional issues a customer has. There’s a reason these tactics are classic: they work.
11. Track the ideas you try
Whatever methods you choose to implement, different techniques won’t matter if you don’t pay close attention to results. Keep track of what initiative you’re using and the metrics (sales figures, order sizes, number of new leads). Only by tracking sales data can you get a clear picture of what is working and what isn’t.
Get Started 
