10 Effective Strategies to Boost Your Sales During the Pandemic (2022)

Anyone who goes into a business wants to make it profitable. You want your sales volume to increase. But the question is how?

This article presents the ten effective strategies to boost your sales during the pandemic.

What are sales revenue and volume?

There are two ways to measure sales - one is through revenue, and the other one is volume.

When we talk about sales, we usually refer to sales revenue. Sales or sales revenue is the number of pesos a business makes through the sale of its items or the services provided during a period. It is the gross sales or the “topline.”

Sales volume refers to the number of items sold or services a business provides during a period. On the other hand, sales revenue focuses on the amount generated, while sales volume focuses on the quantity sold or service provided. 

However, the two are related. Sales revenue is equivalent to sales volume multiplied by the unit price.

How to Measure Sales Revenue and Sales Volume?

As mentioned above, sales revenue is equivalent to sales volume multiplied by the unit price during a period. 

For example, you are selling cassava cakes at P200 per box. You sell ten boxes in a day. In a day, your sales revenue is P2,000 (P200/box x 10 boxes/day). In a month, your sales revenue is P60,000 (P200/box x 300 boxes/month).

Sales volume refers to the number of items sold or services a business provides during a given period. 

Let us use the cassava cake as an example again. Since you sell ten boxes a day, your sales volume is ten. In a month, your sales volume is 300 boxes.

How Useful Are Sales Revenue and Sales Volume?

Sales revenue is useful in knowing your business’ value and growth. It is also helpful in forecasting, setting sales targets, and strategic planning.

Sales volume is useful in evaluating the result of your different marketing and advertising campaigns. It is also essential in inventory and planning.

10 Effective Strategies to Boost Sales

1. Know your stats

Business statistics give you a picture of your business status. Use statistics to forecast, set sales targets, and in strategic planning. Sales revenue and sales volume are crucial in setting sales targets. 

If numbers are not your specialty, hire a good bookkeeper and accountant to provide you with the numbers.

Regarding financial data, embrace digital technology. Use the best software applications you can afford on the point of sale (POS), accounting, billing, payroll, database, and asset management.

2. Set sales goals

You need goals to move forward and have direction. It motivates and challenges you to plan and market your products or services.

The sales revenue and sales volumes figures come in handy as you set your goals. Based on those figures, you ask how much sales revenue and volume do I want in the next quarter?

Here are some tips on having sales targets.

• To have good, realistic sales targets, you must base them on data and math. Sales targets should have solid bases.
• A sales target should lead to a marketing plan to achieve it. 
• As you execute the marketing plan, review your team’s progress. Ensure that the team is working toward the target.
• As you progress, you might find it necessary to adjust the target. Adjust if it is too low or too high.
• Keep the team updated on your progress, particularly hitting your target. This will motivate everyone on the team.

3. Improve your online presence

You must build relationships with your customers. Because of the pandemic, the government limits in-person interaction. It is important to boost your internet presence by having a website and social media pages. 

Here are five benefits that an online presence provides:

• Customers get to know your company.
• Customers engage with you on a personal level.
• Customers get to know what you offer
• Your online presence boosts your company’s brand.
• Your online presence boosts your credibility. People trust businesses with websites and social media pages. Post updates regularly.

4. Get into e-commerce

Use your online presence. Go into e-commerce. There are three approaches to this:

• Use your website for e-commerce. If you check fast-food stores, convenience stores, and supermarkets, you notice that they have converted their homepages into an ordering page. Do the same thing.
• If you do not have a website, use your social media pages. Remember that Facebook is free. Many businesses take their orders from their Facebook account. 
• Sell your products on e-commerce sites like Shopee, Lazada, and similar sites.
• Tie up with delivery service companies. Delivery service companies have their websites and apps where they post your products.

5. Develop your delivery system

If you go into e-commerce, delivery service is one necessity. There are two ways to do this:

Start your delivery service. One good thing about this is that you control the time and handling of the items.

Avail of the services offered by the different delivery service companies. This is a good option if you cannot afford to run your delivery service. It is a convenient option since you do not have to hire drivers and maintain vehicles. They can have your products on their websites and apps, as mentioned above. Once you tap them, you are already into e-commerce.

6. Use online marketing

Take advantage of the internet for marketing. The key benefit of online marketing is its reach. You can market to millions of people.

• Pay Google to run advertisements for you. Google Ads has many options for advertising. They can place your advertisement on Google search pages, different blog sites, or YouTube.
• Promote your products and services through social media platforms. You can post your ads on your company’s page itself. But if you want to target a specific group of people in a particular location, you need to pay. Facebook, for example, can do this for you.

7. Improve customer service

Give importance to customer reviews on your website, social media accounts, and other platforms. Respond appropriately to negative reviews.

Ask those who give positive reviews to share their experience on your website and social media page. More important is to share online business guides and booking sites like, for example, Zomato for restaurants and Agoda and Trivago for hotels and similar sites. Give them some incentives for giving you the favor.

8. Give special offers to customers

Reward your loyal customers. Give them gift vouchers and reward cards. This will encourage them to keep coming back. Maybe even bring friends and loved ones with them.

What special deals can you offer to customers?

Here are several ways to offer special deals:

• Buy One, Get One Free
• Free Delivery
• Gift Vouchers
• 10% Off Discount
• Student Discounts
• Loyalty Points
• Random Rewards
• Cash Back
• Package Deals
• Provide a Guarantee

9. Streamline processes and workflow

During the pandemic, streamlining business operations is very crucial. You do not want to waste money and time. 

Streamlining in business is to simplify or discard unnecessary or complex processes to improve efficiency. Using modern methods and technology facilitates simplifying operations.

It  has several benefits to the company like the following:

• Increased cost-efficiency
• Improved productivity
• Improved communication
• Better time management
• Minimize mistakes and lapses

So, you need to review and assess your business operation and simplify and remove redundant or complex processes.

10. Give time to rest and exercise

During this pandemic, your health is important. You cannot just go on with the grind. You get burned out as you continuously engage in the business. 

Take your day off and vacation seriously. You will not get burned out mentally and physically. These times will give your mind and body the rest needed, and you can think and plan better for the future.

Another way to disengage is to exercise your body. Exercise is good for business too. It helps on the following aspects:

• Build a network of friends
• Get your creative juices flowing.
• Reduce stress.
• Boost your confidence.
• Overcome business challenges.
• Improve your energy.
• Learn to let go of control.

Your employees need these times of disengagement too. And they will reap the same benefits which can help them as individuals and as employees.

Conclusion

During this pandemic, many businesses are struggling. Many have even closed their shops. However, others struggled initially, but they are now picking up and thriving. The key here is to adapt to the situation.

In this challenging time, having strategies to boost sales is essential. And you must know the right approach. The pandemic made some of the techniques you learned before ineffective.

In several strategies mentioned, digital technology and the internet is very much used. The pandemic has bolstered the use of these technologies. The government has limited our face-to-face interaction during this pandemic. The only way to solve the problem is to go digital and online. 

As long as the pandemic is with us, these strategies will continue and improve. Innovations will come and develop these strategies. These strategies will continue even if the situation returns to pre-pandemic times. So you should better familiarize yourself with them to increase sales.

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