Revenue growth is key to building on success and keeping a business running

Building on your current position is key, if you plan to sit still you will more often than not find yourself going backwards. Growing your revenue and therefore your business allows you to invest, go into exciting new ventures and investors love it too! Here are some tips to assist with your revenue growth: 

1. If sales are falling, the first question you should be asking is WHY? If you don’t know the reason, it is hard to address. If you have any way of asking clients or customers why they have decided to stop using your product/service then ask. Collate this data and use it!
2. SEO and online marketing In today’s business environment this goes without saying. If you are googling your product or service and you aren’t seeing yourself on the first page of results then neither are your customers. Inbound marketing techniques such as this and blogging are proving much more effective than traditional outbound techniques such as canvassing and cold calling.
3. Assess your online presence against your competitors If you don’t have an online presence, get one. Once you do, make sure that it stands up against your competitors. Customers, especially those considering a big spend or tying themselves into a contract, will check out a range of services – it takes only minutes to check out a few websites. If yours doesn’t look professional, or if they get confused as to where to click next, they will go elsewhere. Consider a redesign if you are worried and if the online experience is important to your business, think about contracting a UI/UX designer to ensure you stand out from the competition.
4. Check your prices If you are in a position where you are able to ask customers why they are going elsewhere, then you may already know you are priced too highly. If not then you should regularly check the prices of the competition. Cheaper production methods, exchange rate fluctuations and new players in the market can very quickly change the prices you will be competing with.
5. Staff turnover Along with the time and cost that comes with having to re-recruit, getting new staff fully ramped up will cost you with new revenue and can cost you existing clients. This is even more costly long term if you are on a recurring revenue model. Getting the right person for the right job is integral, not just for performance but it also helps ensure a lower staff turnover. Paying a premium is so often worth it overall. Also, get your staff on board with your mission. Make sure they know clearly what it is and make them feel connected to it. Work on developing a positive company culture with everybody pulling in the same direction and feeling part of the success. This way they will be more likely to push towards it and stay with your business.
6. Benchmark internally Work out who is your best performer and find out why then try to use these lessons across your team. Functionality built into online accounting systems such as tracking and classes in Xero and Quickbooks online, lets you track sales (and even costs) by sales person making it so easy to see your best performers.
7. Scaling, and being ready to scale You will inevitably hit capacity with your current business set-up. When that happens you need to be ready. Scope out new markets (get on a train/plane and see them for yourself!) check out new premises, workshops, new staff that will be needed to support this. In other words: plan, plan, plan!

Source: This article was originally produced by FUTRLI – the all in one forecasting and reporting tool.