Many businesses are seasonal and experience a slowdown around the same time every year. But if you’re experiencing a lull in business that’s unusual for your company, it may be a sign you need to improve your sales and marketing plan. Now that you have some extra time on your hands, here are four things to check when business is slow, such as calculating your close rate. Analyzing these metrics will help you identify opportunities for improvement in your business. Hopefully by optimizing your processes, you’ll be able to turn things around and boost your sales.
Things to Check When Business Is Slow
Calculate Your Close Rate
One of the main things to check when business is slow is your current close rate. Your close rate measures how good you are at making sales and converting leads into customers. To calculate it, all you have to do is divide the number of deals you closed last month by the total amount of prospects you or your sales team had in the pipeline at that time. Then multiply that number by 100 to arrive at your close rate.
The average company has a close rate of about 20%. If your close rate is lagging behind, you may need to improve your sales process to get business flowing again. Make sure you know who your target customer is and follow up with every lead multiple times before you throw in the towel.
Nearly 80% of successful deals require 5 or more follow-ups to get off the ground. However, about 44% of salespeople stop following up after the first attempt, which is a huge missed opportunity for your business. So check in with your sales team about their follow-up strategy to ensure you’re not letting qualified leads slip through the cracks.
See How You Stack Up to The Competition
Analyzing what your competitors are doing can help you figure out how to market your product or service better.
Compare your marketing strategy and product offerings to your direct competition. Do you notice any areas where they’re clearly outperforming you? If a competitor’s website is modern and easy to use while yours has technical issues, that may be one of the reasons you’re losing business to them. Shoring up your company’s weaknesses will make it easier to attract customers and hopefully help end your slow season.
You should also try to figure out where your competitors are lacking. Identifying ways you outclass the competition will help you position your offerings to customers and communicate why your product or service is the best.
Analyze Your Audience
Want more things to check when business is slow? Try analyzing your audience’s demographics. This will help you see if the buyer persona you’ve created meshes with the people who are actually visiting your website and engaging with your brand. If your audience is different from who you thought your target customer would be, you may need to adjust your messaging to address their pain points. Tweaking your marketing may help you appeal to your audience better and boost sales.
Make Sure You’re Following Your Content Schedule
When business is booming and you’re busy fulfilling contracts and orders, you may not be able to keep up with your content schedule. But falling behind on your marketing can create a lull later. It’s important to stay on top of your outreach plan if you want a steady stream of business. So use this slow season to create and schedule content for the coming months to avoid running into the same problem during your next busy period.
How do you try to increase sales when business is slow? Let me know in the comments section below!
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Vicky Monroe is a freelance personal finance and lifestyle writer. When she’s not busy writing about her favorite money saving hacks or tinkering with her budget spreadsheets, she likes to travel, garden, and cook healthy vegetarian meals.