6 international sales tactics to grow your business

03/05/2018

international sales tactics

international sales tacticsUp to 79% of all business marketing leads are never converted to sales, according to SalesForce. Without making more sales to sustain your continued growth, your business is bound to fail.

To grow your business globally today, you need to understand why many traditional sales tactics are not working and how to develop an effective sales strategy that works.

With increasing competition among businesses every day, a well-crafted sales strategy is necessary for successful business growth. Below, I’m going to share some expert strategies that you can deploy to grow your business sales now.

1. Increase penetration in your existing markets

Why do so many businesses stick to selling only within their existing market? All the business systems are set up, the team knows and understands what is expected, you have a good understanding of who your customers or clients are, and even have a niche market share.

Considering that your business has a good reputation in the market, you need to capitalize on this further. Find more ways to further penetrate your current market and create a stronger foundation for your business. Understanding your current customers by analyzing existing data will help you make the right decisions, so you can improve your productivity and strengthen your business performance and relationships.

2. Introduce new product lines

Thriving in global business is not easy, especially for businesses that sell products to consumers. Your existing products alone may not be the key to sustained long-term growth. Smart businesses re-evaluate their product lines and take a deeper look at their customer needs and expectations to come up with better ways to please them.

Adding new product lines such as promotional products to complement your existing offerings is a good way to improve customer loyalty.

Consider re-examining your product names in your current markets, give your business logo, product branding and packaging another look, and make sure that everything about your product line conveys your core business message. Broadening your product line also opens up new sales opportunities in your existing market.

3. Open up new channels of distribution

Product distribution can be a headache for international businesses. Even with existing distribution channels, businesses can easily stagnate when sales decrease by a significant margin. If you want to grow your business and increase sales, you need to aggressively open up new channels of distribution. For instance, Marlin Steel, a wire product and metal fabrication company, sold steel products to large factories and pharmaceutical companies for years. But over the last decade they’ve added catalog houses to their distribution channel.

Adding a new distribution channel helped them smooth out erratic purchases from their existing client base and increased their sales. Finding new channels for your business will not only strengthen your brand globally, but will also make your business less vulnerable to the ups and downs of your existing distribution channels. Businesses should maintain quality in delivering or distributing their products so they can keep sales coming.

4. Offer new services to your existing clients

Offering quality services on top of existing products can be the key to strengthening the bond between you and your clients. If opportunities are available, introduce a new line of services geared to both solve problems for your clients and make your business more profitable. Any service that meets the needs of existing or potential future customers will enable your business to see increased sales and improve client relationships. Ask yourself what new, unique services you can offer that will bring more leads and sales for your company.

5. Look out for new client segments

Focusing on new client and market segments can be the key to powering strong growth. Businesses need to be more observant of market trends and changes in how their clients interact with them and other businesses, including competitors. What other products or services are your existing clients getting elsewhere that you could provide for them?

By broadening your client segments, you open opportunities for your business to grab additional clients for your existing or new product lines and services.

Especially when your prospects already have confidence in your brand, it can make for easier growth, improved customer interaction and more sales under the same roof.

6. Target new export segments

Most companies, whether in the U.S, the UK or even Canada, don’t export at all. This oversight leads to massive missed opportunities overseas that can rapidly grow any business. Even companies already exporting may be missing new opportunities in other markets they haven’t considered or worked in before.

If you’re planning to go global or want to increase your international sales, targeting new export markets is a great way to power growth. Over 30% of respondents in a recent National Association of Manufacturers study are already deploying this strategy to drive growth and increase sales.

Bottom line: never stop looking for new opportunities

Focusing on ways to increase sales alone will not guarantee successful business growth. Smart businesses that want to gain an edge in global markets have to constantly uncover the best practices for improving product and service quality, streamlining delivery and distribution channels, and strive for improved productivity, innovation and growth.

Have any of these tactics or others proved successful for you? What advice would you give to others looking to use these tactics?

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the contributing author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forum for International Trade Training.

Ashley is a writer from Studyclerk and super-connector who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition. You can learn more about her here: https://studyclerk.com/research-paper-writing.
Original article: https://www.tradeready.ca/author/ashley-lipman/

About the author

Author: Ashley Lipman

Ashley is a writer from Studyclerk and super-connector who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition.

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