5 steps to double your sales using free tools

When the “I have an idea” stage is passed, many entrepreneurs are faced with the challenge of defining the way to not only make themselves known, but also to increase sales opportunities.

Although each enterprise works with particular strategies or goals, various studies on the challenges as well as the main business priorities in Latin America and the world reveal that all have as their main objective to grow by finding new clients.

While this may seem like a big challenge, today technology works as a great ally to increase the demand for a business for free.

Here we share five tips to double your venting opportunities using free tools that any business can access without investing extra budget.

1. Focus on one problem at a time

Defining a goal to implement the action plan is the most important when starting any project. As an entrepreneur it is sometimes impossible not to want to do everything at the same time, however, focusing on one problem at a time is the key to being more productive and obtaining higher quality results.

The important thing is to summarize the objectives, calculate the needs and establish a deadline to meet them. There are several free online templates with which you can determine your marketing strategy (SMART) and start focusing your priorities in the short, medium and long term.

2. Turn your web pages into allies

How to make that person who came to the page become a customer? The key is to create a sales opportunities flow strategy, that is, correctly use messages that appear as banners or pop-ups in which visitors leave their contact information in exchange for more information, discounts or subscription to a blog.

It is vital that they have the correct timing and content to attract visitors and not scare them away with invasive information. In that sense, it can be very helpful to use a CRM ( Customer Relationship Management ), that is, a customer relationship management software that allows you to add them to the portal thanks to its functionalities.

3. Do not be afraid of social networks

Networks such as Instagram and Facebook have free company profiles that allow you to obtain more information about the followers of the account in order to create content focused 100% on their interests.

Three simple but effective tips to improve the presence in social networks of a brand are: always respond to messages, achieve that response in less than 24 hours and address all consumer concerns, whether positive or negative.

4. Improve the service, automating communication with your customers

Recent studies by Facebook IQ indicate that when it comes to interacting with brands, up to 53% of people are more likely to buy when they can contact businesses through a chat.

So much so that Facebook has its own chatbot for companies that allows automated responses, while WhatsApp developed WhatsApp Business, which allows companies to communicate more efficiently with their customers. To date, the tool is used by more than five million companies worldwide.

5. Prepare your idea as if you were presenting it to an investor tomorrow

Although measuring results may take time, which is what many entrepreneurs lack, the reality is that what is not measured does not grow, so continuous monitoring is necessary to confirm that each step the company took was worthwhile.

To achieve this, it is possible to take advantage of the analytics of sales opportunities that include free CRMs, which provide reports and allow to plan changes in the strategy. At the same time, to verify that all the strategies put into practice also have an impact on the return on investment (ROI), it is advisable to use free guides with the resources to calculate the return on investment.

Making use of these tools can give your business the opportunity to grow better and above all, they will give you the guidance to know your idea better and turn it into a real enterprise.

The SMART strategy

Make better decisions by setting SMART goals. This word in English not only means intelligent in Spanish, but each of the letters of this acronym is an effective checklist that will enhance the direction of your efforts towards concrete, measurable and real goals. Each letter represents a requirement that your goals must meet.

• Specific (specific) Clearly define the objective. Establish figures with real delivery times. Stop saying “I want more visits”.  
• Measurable (measurable). Make sure you monitor your goal. Stop using clichés of the type “interaction with the brand” or “influence on social networks.”
• Attachable (reachable). Work to achieve a goal that is a challenge, but also that is achievable.
• Realistic (realistic). Be honest with yourself, because you know what you and your team are capable of achieving. Do not forget the obstacles you may have to face.
• Time-bound (limited time). Give yourself a delivery time. Do not keep moving towards a goal that you could “achieve one of these days”.