Small businesses make up the majority of companies in most economies worldwide. In the province of British Columbia, they account for approximately 80% of businesses. We have committed a huge portion of our time to helping small businesses succeed.
Several pundits have predicted that 2023 will be our worst year yet and that inflation will be out of control. Despite that, we are confident that your small business can not only survive but THRIVE in 2023.
We will share with you a free strategy that you can implement today without spending any money, but in order to qualify, you should be able to answer yes to the following questions:
OK, let’s help you find at least $30,000 in revenue in your existing business. I am being very conservative by saying $30,000. We have over 10 tried tested and proven strategies that can help you uncover millions of dollars in your business, but today we will be very quick in helping you to use just one strategy to find $30,000 or more in your business. What if every 30 minutes you could discover an extra $30,000, wow, that would be great for any business. Now let us help you to find that $30,000 in 30 minutes or less. Start your clock.
I have designed a strategy that includes connecting Marketing, Advertising/Promotion and Sales. I call this strategy MAPS for short. MAPS is the most important element of any business and all three areas support the other. You can be great at generating leads from marketing and advertising/promoting but poor at converting those leads into sales. That is why I have grouped these together. There are more marketers than sales persons these days. Since the advent of social media, it has become very easy to market and advertise to a larger number of persons. But many small businesses admit that they fail when it comes to converting leads into sales.
So let us see if you are leaving money on the table. Let us start with your website. Your website is important in the MAPS strategy.
I have helped many businesses big and small grow revenue. In addition, I am the founder of several successful businesses. I have had my fair share of trials and errors, but I am now very happy to share my success formula with you.
How may leads did you get on your website last year (or over the last 12 months). OK let us assume it was 1000 leads and your average conversion rate was 20%.
Quick note – you can use tools such as google analytics or a plugin on your website to calculate your conversion rate or use this formula:
Conversion Rate = Total number of conversions / Total number of unique visitors * 100
Ok, let us get back to your website. So, each customer spends an average of $1,000 with you by visiting your website. What was your gross revenue over the same period? I am assuming that it was $100,000 (I am being conservative). Will not discuss profit margins in this session.
Let us calculate the numbers (its all about the numbers right?).
Connected MAPS Strategy
| Focus | Previous | Increase | New |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | 1000 | 100 | 1100 |
| Conversion | 20% | 10% | 30% |
| # of items sold | 200 | 20 | 330 |
| Price | $1000 | 10% | $1100 |
| Revenue | $100,000 | more than 70% | $363,000 |
Surprise, I underpromised and over performed, that is what we do for our customers, we help them to win. So we just found $263,000 for this client. That is more than a double increase in revenue by simple increasing your lead, conversion rate and sales. Now you might be saying ‘yeah that is all good’ but how do I get this done practically. First let me say, you do not need a marketing or sales degree to get this done.
Your website is the key. For now, I will ignore social media marketing and focus on your website. What is the first thing you see on your home page? Does it clearly state why your client should choose you over the competitor? Are you giving your client a ridiculously valuable offer that they would be crazy to refuse? Your answer will tell us why your website is not efficient in increasing leads and closing sales. Your website should have a clear value preposition
Here are a few tips to get your website working for you.
First you want to Disturb, Engage, Educate and Present your offer (DEEP) to your website visitors.
Disturb clients by knowing their problem/pain point and providing them with the solution for it. Do not provide them your solution, instead, provide a solution to fix their WHY. For instance, one of our customers, a car sales company offered great products and services but their website was very ‘mundane’. The homepage had links to cars and provided links to request quotations. Car buyers buy cars mostly for the mobility it offers. So instead, this car company should have a statement at the top of their page that state: We offer convenient and hassle-free car buying experience. Get a new car in less than 3 days. This creates a differential in the mind of the customer. There are many car lots around, but the car dealer who can get customers mobile faster is definitely the one customers would choose. I recently helped a customer to write a value preposition for their website and needless to say the conversion rate went up by 48% in less than 14 days.
Now that you have the attention of your client, it is time to engage them. You may offer an ebook, checklist, guide or other valuable item. I call this engage because the customer must engage with your website by providing their contact information in order to receive the valuable offer.
A website visitor usually visits a site at least 3 or more times before buying. Engage them with a valuable and irresistible offer. The next step is to educate them. You have their email and you might have sent them an ebook in order to receive their email addresses. Many small businesses have thousands of email addresses and do nothing with them. That is you leaving money on the table. I had another client who had a great engage strategy but felt overwhelmed when it came to educating her customers. Because of this she had a very low lead conversion rate and her sales numbers were low as well. This client was great at doing ebooks, so I advised her to break down the ebook content into bite-sized information and educate her customers via monthly newsletters.
Finally, it is time to present your offer. This is done while you educate your client. As a matter of fact, clients are more likely to buy during the education process. Trust is built and the client will have confidence in your knowledge and abilities.
MAPS is just 1 of the many strategies that we use to help small businesses increase their revenue and get out of the rat race.
If you would like to grow your revenue and or would like me to help you design and implement a strategy that works, please contact me to get started.