Basic Company Strategies for Improving Annual Sales

2008-05-29 11:05:16

( Insurance )



Annual Sales - Every Firm's Biggest Dream and Nightmare

A key area in measuring a company's business success is through its annual sales figures. The country's top corporations are listed on the basis of their annual sales.

Achieving sales targets or even surpassing them is every company's dream. Increasing yearly sales indicates that the company's products and services are well-accepted by the market, and that the company may even be surpassing its competitors in terms of market share.

It is also every company's biggest nightmare to experience declining annual sales. Such phenomenon indicates that either the company is unable to keep up with growing competition, or is suffering from internal difficulties that deter its optimum production and marketing efforts.

There are several time-tested strategies not only for achieving your annual sales targets, but also for ensuring their continuous growth.

Know Your Target Market

While you may have developed the product for a specific type of consumer, you may have also either overestimated or underestimated your target market. You may be developing a product for teenagers, for instance, without actually knowing what they really like in the product. Without this knowledge, you will not be able to develop a product that your target market will want to buy.

You also have to be aware of all other qualities that your target market possesses in terms of income level, age, social status, tastes and even outlooks. In turn, these will determine your market's reactions to your product.

The Power of Advertising and Promotions

Consumers will only know that your product exists through your advertising and promotion efforts.

There are many effective strategies to promote your product. You can sell at low introductory prices upon launching the product. You can offer free samples, distribute brochures or fliers, sponsor special events or participate in trade shows to expose your product to the public.

You build awareness by advertising your product through printed or broadcast media. Consumers remember advertised products more, and will be stimulated to try your product at least once.

Continuous Research and Development

Just because you already have a product doesn't mean that you sit back and watch sales pour in. Needs, tastes and preferences of consumers change through time,
so you should always adapt your product to meet these changes.

You need to figure out if you're adding any new variants, such as new soda flavors or a new children's line for sports shoes. You need to decide whether to improve or phase out any of your existing products.

You can acquire data by researching it yourself, or by looking up secondary sources. Research findings will help you speculate on your product's future chances of success or failure, and what direction you should take.


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