How to Increase Sales Even in Poor Economic Times

In every industry, there are companies that grow their sales each year regardless of the economic conditions; I’m talking about organic sales, not increased prices.

Companies that sell more of their products and services each year are market-driven organizations. They create a climate of customer service and operational excellence that helps them excel and take market share from their competitors. These companies share many of the same traits: they strive for consistency in the quality of their products and services, create leading products and services that differentiate them from competitors, and make customers their number one priority.

In this setting, management is the catalyst for this customer-focused environment, and achieves it by:

• Consciously deciding to improve what is already in place by focusing on manufacturing and/or service effectiveness. These companies strive to deliver a product or service at a lower cost, in record time and with no errors.  
• Ensuring all staff members who deal with customers have adequate training both in their area of expertise as well as customer listening skills.
• Listening to feedback from those who deal with customers and determining where to initiate changes to better serve them.
• Highly valuing those who interact with customers and recognizing/rewarding incidents of exceptional customer service.
• Empowering those in contact with customers to be able to solve problems on the spot.