There are only three ways to increase sales in any business:
• Increase number of customers
• Greater purchase frequency
• Increase transaction size.
Most marketing efforts focus far too much on the first category – getting new customers. Indeed, with all the social media hype, you would swear that is all their is.
The purpose of any lead generation is to get a prospect to ask about your product. You are trying to identify the individual interested in hearing more about your sales message and weeding out those who don’t. No matter what the market is, no matter how compelling the offer, there is no way everyone that everyone will want to buy a product or service. Separating the potential buyers from the ones who will never buy is called ‘lead generation’.
However, it is true that new leads are the bedrock of any business.
The bottom line is that sales come from leads, and leads come from referral, prospecting and lead generation or marketing systems. Getting more sales means better conversions and more leads: Leads x Conversion Rate = Customers
With this simple formula, it’s clear that you cannot increase customers directly because they are a result, not a variable. To increase your customers, you must increase either your leads or your conversion rate – or both.
