Small and Medium-sized Enterprises play a crucial role in the economic development of Sri Lanka.
They make the highest contribution to job creation, income generation, and overall economic growth. Nevertheless, SMEs confront a unique set of challenges, particularly starting in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent drastic economic downturn. The sector is facing a number of new challenges and trying hard to recover from unprecedentedly sluggish market conditions.
Due to the prevailing economic situation in the country, improving sales has become more challenging for SMEs. In this context, paying closer attention to sales strategies has become the foremost requirement for small or medium-sized businesses in Sri Lanka. Up to this point, almost all large organisations have given top priority to modern marketing and sales strategies, while SMEs have paid average or little attention to this important factor.
Implementing effective sales strategies is crucial for the growth and success of any small or medium-sized business. By understanding the target audience, building a strong online presence, offering exceptional customer service, and utilising various marketing techniques, they can effectively attract and retain customers and obtain a competitive edge.
Limited budgets
As a small business, the budgets are limited, and the owners must be concerned with marketing or selling strategies that do not generate tangible results. Bigger businesses may have huge marketing and content budgets that they recoup later down the line.
Embracing data-driven approaches continuously optimises sales efforts and adapts to changing market trends. By consistently refining sales strategies, SMEs can be better positioned to achieve sustainable growth and stay competitive in the market.
In modern markets, sales strategies encompass a range of techniques and approaches designed to attract, engage, and convert potential customers into loyal patrons. Hybrid selling is essentially an omnichannel approach to sales that brings together digital and offline outreach.
The reputed American technological research and consulting firm Gartner Inc. predicts that 80% of B2B sales communication between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels, such as email, social media, text, live chat, or all of the above. Self-service options will become increasingly popular as more people seek convenience, speed, and a tech-first relationship with sales representatives. This is a strong message to Sri Lankan SMEs that they can concentrate on digital strategies for sales efforts.
The first step is to develop a digital sales strategy. It is essential to thoroughly understand the target audience. A key mistake most small business owners make is thinking that “anyone” is their buyer. Hence, conducting simple market research initially to identify needs, pain points, preferences, buying behaviour, demographics, and preferences is essential to understanding the actual market segment.
By studying these areas, the organisation can simply use its sales efforts to meet the customers’ specific requirements. Also, small businesses must realise that they have the most fruitful leverage in a niche and develop strategies accordingly.
Online presence
In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is vital for SMEs. If there’s one lesson we have learnt about small businesses in post-Covid-19, it’s that nothing is set in stone. We have seen business models disrupted, customer habits and behaviour altered, and businesses transformed, and more than enough survival examples.
Many of these changes involved adopting new technologies and embracing digital strategies. With millions of potential customers using various social media platforms daily, it has become the most powerful tool in the sales drive of any organisation. By maintaining an active presence on social media platforms, engaging with potential customers, and building brand awareness, companies can sustain or increase sales revenue.
However, small business owners must keep in mind that consumers are inundated with messages from multiple channels to the point where they begin to ignore them. Traditional marketing is losing effectiveness, while customised sales offers that create a real connection between the brand and the target market are drawing attention. Therefore, paying undivided attention to the intended messages to the market is essential.
Also, it has become compulsory for all small and medium businesses to develop an informative and visually appealing website, as most buyers go through the web content of the supplier before making a buying decision.
Content marketing is a strategy used to attract, engage, and retain an audience by creating and sharing relevant articles, videos, podcasts, and other media. This approach establishes expertise, promotes brand awareness, and keeps your business top of mind for potential customers. This is an extremely important and effective strategy for SMEs to attract customers.
It is vital to create relevant content, such as blog posts, articles, videos, and infographics, that addresses the pain points of your target audience. By providing valuable information, you can position your business as an authority in the industry, which can help build trust and credibility with potential customers. This can differentiate your business from the competition and tremendously develop the image of the company. The correct content can provide multiple touch points for the audience and offer substantially more opportunities to increase sales revenue.
Customer experience
One sure way for small enterprises to compete in the prevailing fiercely competitive market is to offer an exceptional customer experience. That can provide a perfect and strong point of difference (POD) to the customers when they compare before making the buying decision. As everyone knows, customers are becoming more demanding of everything the company offers because, in this digital age and due to conveniently accessible data, they have information at their fingertips.
Although it seems like a non-selling function, the modern market demands pre-purchase service from companies in addition to traditional post-sale service. Almost all large and established companies are known to have strategically valued their customer experience and are already functional. Therefore, small organisations can train their staff to be friendly, attentive, and responsive, and how they should react tocustomers during all stages of the interaction process, including the pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase stages. Building strong relationships with customers can lead to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth referrals.
Even in Sri Lanka, customers buying decisions are now heavily influenced by promotions. While large organisations heavily engaged in offering even non-seasonal incentives to customers, it is visibly clear that small business entities fall back on this effective tactic. It is said that businesses that offer incentives to customers seem to be more successful than those that do not. For one, it can help build a rapport with them and establish a good relationship. Additionally, it can increase customer loyalty and encourage them to return in the future.
Offering customer incentives can be a great way to increase customer loyalty and encourage repeat business. Incentives can take many forms, such as discounts, coupons, freebies, or loyalty programs. Whatever the form, offering an incentive is a valuable way to show the organisation’s appreciation for their patronage.
Implementing effective sales strategies is crucial for the growth and success of small and medium-sized businesses. By understanding your target audience, building a strong online presence, offering exceptional customer service, and using various marketing techniques, you can effectively attract and retain customers.
Small and medium business entities must embrace data-driven approaches to continuously optimise sales efforts and adapt to changing market trends. By consistently refining strategies, the SME will be better positioned to achieve sustainable growth and stay competitive in the market.