Top 5 Revenue Growth Strategies to Beat Your Competition

by Blackwood Impact Group

Improper Tools Can Hinder Sales Growth

Growing revenue is challenging for businesses of all sizes. Here at Blackwood Impact Group (BIG), we think it is particularly challenging for solo entrepreneurs and smaller companies. These entities often have a tougher time when they are trying to plan to grow their sales because they often do not have the right tools.

Many small businesses do not use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool such as Infusionsoft, Insightly, or Salesforce. One reason why they do not use them is that the cost of the software can be prohibitive for their sized business. Another typical scenario is that only one person (the business owner) is conducting all of the sales activities, so they feel they don’t need sophisticated software to keep track of their customers and sales data. Instead, they use spreadsheets, the productivity tools that come with their email (calendar, contacts, tasks, etc.), or even a handwritten ledger in a notebook to keep track of prospects and sales. However, not using software to manage your sales processes hinders your capacity to grow and hire other salespeople.

For some small businesses, their CRM is being underutilized. Sometimes the reason is a lack of training. We’ve also seen cases where there are just one or two salespeople who are not being held accountable in using the system, so they often get busy and do not use it to its full potential.

No matter the reason, if you are not using a CRM to manage your sales cycle, you are missing out on having a handle on your data. It is probably difficult for you to know what is indeed driving your business forward. Not knowing prevents you from being able to strategically reinvest your dollars and efforts into what is working for you so you can earn more.

Introducing The Sales Dashboard Tool

If you are at the point in your business where you are serious about growing your revenue and you know it is time to be more methodical and strategic about sales, then we’ve created something with you in mind. It’s our free Sales Dashboard Tool, and it is poised to help you see your sales data in a new and useful way.

Even if you have been recently experiencing a surge in sales, our Sales Dashboard Tool can still be helpful. If you are a small team or a one-person shop, you may find yourself focused on satisfactorily delivering your products or services to your customers. But having greater visibility into your sales will help you to ensure that what you are experiencing now is duplicatable over the long term.

Blackwood Impact Group created the Sales Dashboard Tool as a simple Excel model that you can input key data into. You will then be able to view and analyze the data in different formats that simulate the types of dashboards you might see in a pricey CRM. It is easy to use and easy to understand.

If you ever found yourself spending money on a variety of marketing efforts but were never sure which ones were working, the Sales Dashboard Tool can help you get clarity. This tool will help you answer your questions about where to put your efforts next so that you can impact sales. It will also ensure that you are getting the best Return on Investment (ROI) for your marketing dollars.

How to Maximize Our Sales Dashboard Tool

We understand that CRM dashboards can be overwhelming to dive into for the first time. So although our Sales Dashboard Tool is designed to mimic their functionality, we have made it user-friendly. You only need to input a few pieces of information to instantly get a visual representation of what’s happening in your business.

The Sales Dashboard Tool will show you six critical pieces of information. They are:

• Total sales by city.
• Sales by product or service.
• Monthly sales by city.
• Product or service sales by representatives.
• Sales by representative.
• Sales by lead generation source.

Depending on how many salespeople you have, some of the models may not apply. Below, we highlight two of the models that will apply to all businesses and demonstrate how you can use this information to plan your sales strategies.

Knowing how much sales have been generated by your various lead generation sources is critical for every business. You should be surveying new prospects and clients to find out how they heard about you. So let’s say leads come from referrals, your website, social media, and radio ads. For example, if the Sales Dashboard Tool shows that social media is the channel that yields the most leads and clients for you, now you know it would be worth it to invest more in your social media campaigns so you can get more leads. As a result, some of the strategies you might test out moving forward can include posting more frequently, boosting your most popular posts, engaging your audience more, or working on increasing your audience size.

Another area that all companies can benefit from is understanding how much sales each product or service is generating. Look at your best sellers and the revenue it is bringing in. It is essential that you look at the data and not go by what you feel is popular; numbers never lie. Once you know what is generating the most money for you, you can begin to strategize on increasing sales of that item or service. Explore questions such as how can I sell more of my best sellers?  What is appealing about this product or service that makes it so popular? Can I improve on this product or service? Would hiring a dedicated salesperson to sell only this product or service be beneficial?

Benefits of Using the Sales Dashboard Tool

Small companies (and especially solo entrepreneurs) are usually stretched thin as they work hard to keep their operations running. When you are that busy, it can be hard to take the time to get granular on the sales aspect of your business, especially without the right tools. That is why the Sales Dashboard Tool will likely become your business’s new best friend. It is going to help you know what is working well for your company, so you can place your focus there. It will help you plan to delegate your money and people resources efficiently. It will help you create a solid roadmap for increasing your revenue and growing your business.

Get started today by downloading the Sales Dashboard Tool for free. We provided a few questions and ideas within this article to spark your planning. But if you want more in-depth help with creating new sales strategies based on the data, we’ve embedded a way for you to connect with us inside the tool for further assistance. Here’s to your increased sales!