What are your creative techniques and strategies to increase profits?

1) Lead generation

The process that you use to attract interested prospects to your business. If five out of ten prospects who come into your place of business end up buying from you and you can increase the number of people coming in from ten to15, you can make more money and increase profits by50 percent.

2) Lead conversion

The process by which you convert leads into paying customers. This is the measure of the effectiveness of your sales efforts. If you can increase your conversion rate from one out of ten to two out of ten, you can double your sales and increase profits.

Improving your ability to sell and convert interested prospects into paying customers is one of the most important things you can do. And there is no replacement for ongoing sales training, both for you and for every single person who speaks to customers, either live or on the phone.

Look at every key result area in your sales process and seek ways to improve a little bit in each area. A small improvement in each key area can lead to an enormous improvement in overall sales results.

 

Learn more about lead conversion and how to make more money in your business from my FREE e-book.

3) Number of transactions

The number of individual sales that you make to each customer that you acquire. By increasing the frequency of purchase by ten percent, you increase your sales and increase profits by the same percentage. What are some things that you could do to get your customers to buy more from you and to buy more frequently?

4) Size of transaction

The size of the sale and the profit that you earn from each. You should be continually looking for ways to up-sell each customer so that he or she buys more each time.

5) Profit margin per sale

Profit margin is the gross profit that you make from the sale of each product or service. By continually seeking ways to raise the price or to lower the cost of the product or service without decreasing the quality, you can increase profits per sale.

Every dollar you raise a price, if you hold costs constant, flows straight to the bottom line as profit. Every dollar you reduce expenses, if you hold sales and revenues constant, also goes straight to the bottom line as net profit.

6) Cost of customer acquisition

The amount that you have to pay to acquire each paying customer. You should be continually seeking creative ways to improve your advertising and promotion so that it costs you less to buy each customer. This can impact and increase profits of your business dramatically.

7) Increasing customer referrals

The customers who come to you as the result of referrals from your satisfied customers. Developing one or more proven referral systems for your business can have an inordinate impact on your sales and your business will make more money.

8) Eliminate costly services and activities

Many companies get into a routine or rhythm of offering expensive services to their customers that they could easily discontinue with no loss of customer satisfaction.

Look at the little services that you offer to your customers. Is there anything that you could reduce or discontinue altogether?

9) Reduce your break-even point

This is the number of items that you must sell each month to break-even or start making a profit.

You use this break-even point to evaluate the potential effectiveness of any advertising or any other expense that you incur to increase sales. Every expense to increase profits must be seen as an investment with an expected rate of return that is greater than the cost.

10) Raise your prices

 

In many situations, you can raise your prices by5 or10 percent without experiencing any market resistance. If your products and services are of good quality and your people are friendly and helpful, a small increase in your overall prices will not drive your customers away.

I think quality of a product will speak for it self, which means quality is essential to start with, and with some ( smart )advertisement, sales promotions and aftermarket honest services, we definitely will increase profit 

Its vary person to person with different backgrounds and resources available, one might think critically and make SWOT analysis to find techniques. there are various approaches such as brain storming, group discussions, literature review, comparisiom of same industries etc.

Here are some of creative techniques you can increase sales revenue or profits:

-      Service availability; through working more than business hours your rivals do.

-      Increasing number of sales agents; through offering extra benefits excluding the sales discounts you offer.

-      Announcing limited percentage of sales discounts in special occasions such as; the national day, festival days and so on.

 

-      Psychological pricing; for example, to price $19.70 for one service and another for $33.89 and like so.

by decreasing product costs you can produce more profit 

Process optimisation, efficiency tracking,feasibility study for each project

One major ways I discover profit can be increased is by frequently reducing your cost of sales. Ways to reduce cost of sales involves1. Raw material maximization.2. Preventing or monitoring waste of raw material.3. Strong internal control.4. Monitoring theft.5. Knowing the techniques of buying materials at low cost.

Sales vs. Revenues

The words “sales,” “revenue” and “income” have different meanings, and become confusing if used as synonyms. “Sales” refers to the number of units of your product you sell, “revenues” refers to the total amount money your sales generates, and “income” refers to your profit from those sales. Keep these in mind as you plan sales strategies to strike the right balance for your business’s needs. Don’t be surprised to hear “sales” and “revenues” used as synonyms, which is a common occurrence in business.

Increase Your Marketing

An obvious way to increase sales is to boost your marketing. Quantity doesn’t necessarily mean quality, so careful planning, test-marketing and monitoring your results maximizes your sales. Conduct marketplace research to learn which messages speak to your target audience. Run ads and promotions in limited locations and check the results before spending your entire budget. Incorporate some way to monitor marketing communications, such as using coupons, electronic codes or website traffic statistics.

Review Your Pricing Strategies

If your product or service is price sensitive, pay special attention to your pricing strategies. Find out what your competition is charging and raise or lower your prices based on your goals. Lowering your prices can increase revenues to make up for lower margins. Raising your prices can create a higher perceived value in the minds of consumers and increase your margins. Raising your prices can also increase your revenues without increasing sales.

Expand Your Distribution Channels

Changing where you sell your product can significantly boost your sales and revenues without requiring any changes to your marketing or pricing. Perform a careful study of the effects of using online selling, direct mail, wholesalers, retailers, distributors and outside sales reps to project how each method can affect your sales volumes, profit margins and total profits. In some cases, new distribution channels require marketing support.

Diversify Your Offerings

If you’re a mature company, it might be time to add new products and services to create exponential growth. If you feel you’ve saturated the marketplace, determine the products your target customers buy that you’re not selling and that you think you can make and market profitably. You might need to replace old products with new ones. This might result in a decrease in sales, but higher revenues if the replacement product has a higher price.

Develop Relationships

The more people you can get to promote your product or service, the more sales and revenues you’ll have. Look for businesses that don't compete with you but which have the same target customer and develop cross promotions. For example, if you sell sports apparels, sponsor golf and tennis instructors and youth league coaches to wear and promote your line. Partner with charities to get them to promote you to their supporters. Use social media programs to build a following generated by satisfied customers.

People LOVE to talk about revenues. The numbers are big, impressive and easy to fixate on. But when was the last time you heard someone bragging about growing their margins or improving business efficiency? These metrics aren't nearly as sexy, but they're immensely important. As the saying goes, “It doesn't matter how much you make. It matters how much you keep.” With that mantra in mind, here are three highly-effective and unintuitive strategies to improve your business's bottom line. Raise Your Prices Raising prices is a terrifying prospect. As entrepreneurs, we assume that customers will abandon us, sales will dry up and our business will collapse into the dust-heap of failure. But like most fears, we tend to grossly overexaggerate the consequences and underestimate the benefits. Especially if you're reselling an existing product in your ecommerce store, a small increase in price can do miracles for your bottom line. Imagine the following scenario for a popular item in your online store: Item Retail Cost: $100 Wholesale Cost: $80 Profit: $20 Profit Margin:25% ($20 profit / $80 cost) Now image that, after being inspired by an article on the Shopify blog, you re-priced this item at $110: Item Retail Cost: $110 Wholesale Cost: $80 Profit: $30 Profit Margin:37.5% ($30 profit / $80 cost) Our minor10% increase in prices resulted in a massive50% increase in profits and gross margin! Under the best-case circumstances – assuming you have a strong unique selling proposition and aren't competing on price – your conversion rates won't dive and you'll have achieved an instant50% increase in your overall profits. Even with a significant30% drop in conversions, you'd still be making more money than under your old pricing model, but with fewer customer servicing costs to consider. I successfully used this approach with my own ecommerce store to instantly increase my bottom line by25%. It was, bar none, the most effective technique I've ever used to increase profitability. When implementing this strategy, keep the following in mind: Make sure you test different pricing levels. While raising prices is often very effective, you'll need to confirm it for your market/business. If you have a large catalog, testing pricing on thousands of products can be a tall task. Start out testing pricing on only your best-selling products instead. This strategy relies on having a unique selling proposition and offering value to your customers. The more price-sensitive your customers, the less effective this will be. If you don't have a unique selling proposition, you need to get one. Don't Obsess About Per-Order Profits Many businesses are unwilling to lose money on an order, even if that means ending the relationship with an unhappy or dissatisfied customer. You may have had a similar experience, which often goes something like this: “I'm sorry, sir. We only made $X on your purchase, so if we (fill in your reasonable request here), we'd lose money on your business. I hope you understand.” This is a penny-wise but pound-foolish approach, and a terrible way to do business in today's highly social and connected world. If you're not consistently losing money on orders to quickly and pro-actively resolve customer problems, you're missing out on the chance to improve your bottom line. Customers are so accustomed to mediocre service that when a business goes out of its way to proactively resolve a problem – without charging them – they're blown away. Apart from the life-long value of that customer, you'll receive valuable referral marketing and recommendations that are impossible to purchase. If you're running an ecommerce store, here are four ways you can invest in the future of your business and, ultimately, your long-term bottom line: Did something inexpensive break? Ship customers a free replacement immediately without requiring them to hassle with the return. If an expensive item needs to be returned, ship them a replacement as soon as they submit tracking confirmation of the return, instead of waiting until it hits your warehouse. If a long-time customer needs something ASAP, overnight it to them at no charge. If a customer wasn’t happy with a purchase, proactively issue a partial refund to help compensate him for the disappointment. Serving customers like this will cost a bit more in the short term, but will pay incredible dividends as you build a loyal and highly vocal fan base that results in a very healthy bottom line. Reconsider Offering Phone Support Would you be willing to reduce your workload by50% if it meant only giving up15% of your business? I would, and did, when I stopped advertising my toll-free sales number on one of my sites. We were able to take the savings – both in terms of time and money – and pour them into better serving our online customers and improving our site. While phone support is a rarity among many online businesses, it seems that a disproportionate number of ecommerce merchants still feel it's necessary. After the previous section, which championed outstanding customer support, this may seem like a major contradiction. But great customer service doesn't mean being all things to all people. It simply means taking outstanding care of the customers you've chosen to do business with. Based on your product and market – especially if your price point is lower - offering phone sales support may or may not be a wise use of your time. Try measuring the impact removing your phone number has on conversions. You'll likely be surprised that the vast majority of people simply order online. If you do decide to offer a sales line, try to place it in strategic places such on the “Contact Us” page or in the shopping cart, where only qualified prospects will see it. If you serve both individuals and businesses, you can also experiment with a business-only phone line. If you decide to scale back your phone support, make sure to: Be honest with customers and let them know WHY you don't list a telephone number. Tell them you prefer to invest in a quality website and outstanding customer service for your existing clients. Ensure you have a highly detailed, informative website to answer customers' questions. Have fantastic email support if customers can't reach you easily via phone. Using a help desk like Desk.com, Helpjuice, Zendesk, or Kayako will ensure that your email correspondence is top-notch, and that requests don't go unanswered. Also, don't write off the phone entirely. If a customer requests a call back, or if you need to resolve issues that require personal attention, make sure to pick up the phone.

People LOVE to talk about revenues. The numbers are big, impressive and easy to fixate on. But when was the last time you heard someone bragging about growing their margins or improving business efficiency? These metrics aren't nearly as sexy, but they're immensely important. As the saying goes, “It doesn't matter how much you make. It matters how much you keep.” With that mantra in mind, here are three highly-effective and unintuitive strategies to improve your business's bottom line. Raise Your Prices Raising prices is a terrifying prospect. As entrepreneurs, we assume that customers will abandon us, sales will dry up and our business will collapse into the dust-heap of failure. But like most fears, we tend to grossly overexaggerate the consequences and underestimate the benefits. Especially if you're reselling an existing product in your ecommerce store, a small increase in price can do miracles for your bottom line. Imagine the following scenario for a popular item in your online store: Item Retail Cost: $100 Wholesale Cost: $80 Profit: $20 Profit Margin:25% ($20 profit / $80 cost) Now image that, after being inspired by an article on the Shopify blog, you re-priced this item at $110: Item Retail Cost: $110 Wholesale Cost: $80 Profit: $30 Profit Margin:37.5% ($30 profit / $80 cost) Our minor10% increase in prices resulted in a massive50% increase in profits and gross margin! Under the best-case circumstances – assuming you have a strong unique selling proposition and aren't competing on price – your conversion rates won't dive and you'll have achieved an instant50% increase in your overall profits. Even with a significant30% drop in conversions, you'd still be making more money than under your old pricing model, but with fewer customer servicing costs to consider. I successfully used this approach with my own ecommerce store to instantly increase my bottom line by25%. It was, bar none, the most effective technique I've ever used to increase profitability. When implementing this strategy, keep the following in mind: Make sure you test different pricing levels. While raising prices is often very effective, you'll need to confirm it for your market/business. If you have a large catalog, testing pricing on thousands of products can be a tall task. Start out testing pricing on only your best-selling products instead. This strategy relies on having a unique selling proposition and offering value to your customers. The more price-sensitive your customers, the less effective this will be. If you don't have a unique selling proposition, you need to get one. Don't Obsess About Per-Order Profits Many businesses are unwilling to lose money on an order, even if that means ending the relationship with an unhappy or dissatisfied customer. You may have had a similar experience, which often goes something like this: “I'm sorry, sir. We only made $X on your purchase, so if we (fill in your reasonable request here), we'd lose money on your business. I hope you understand.” This is a penny-wise but pound-foolish approach, and a terrible way to do business in today's highly social and connected world. If you're not consistently losing money on orders to quickly and pro-actively resolve customer problems, you're missing out on the chance to improve your bottom line. Customers are so accustomed to mediocre service that when a business goes out of its way to proactively resolve a problem – without charging them – they're blown away. Apart from the life-long value of that customer, you'll receive valuable referral marketing and recommendations that are impossible to purchase. If you're running an ecommerce store, here are four ways you can invest in the future of your business and, ultimately, your long-term bottom line: Did something inexpensive break? Ship customers a free replacement immediately without requiring them to hassle with the return. If an expensive item needs to be returned, ship them a replacement as soon as they submit tracking confirmation of the return, instead of waiting until it hits your warehouse. If a long-time customer needs something ASAP, overnight it to them at no charge. If a customer wasn’t happy with a purchase, proactively issue a partial refund to help compensate him for the disappointment. Serving customers like this will cost a bit more in the short term, but will pay incredible dividends as you build a loyal and highly vocal fan base that results in a very healthy bottom line. Reconsider Offering Phone Support Would you be willing to reduce your workload by50% if it meant only giving up15% of your business? I would, and did, when I stopped advertising my toll-free sales number on one of my sites. We were able to take the savings – both in terms of time and money – and pour them into better serving our online customers and improving our site. While phone support is a rarity among many online businesses, it seems that a disproportionate number of ecommerce merchants still feel it's necessary. After the previous section, which championed outstanding customer support, this may seem like a major contradiction. But great customer service doesn't mean being all things to all people. It simply means taking outstanding care of the customers you've chosen to do business with. Based on your product and market – especially if your price point is lower - offering phone sales support may or may not be a wise use of your time. Try measuring the impact removing your phone number has on conversions. You'll likely be surprised that the vast majority of people simply order online. If you do decide to offer a sales line, try to place it in strategic places such on the “Contact Us” page or in the shopping cart, where only qualified prospects will see it. If you serve both individuals and businesses, you can also experiment with a business-only phone line. If you decide to scale back your phone support, make sure to: Be honest with customers and let them know WHY you don't list a telephone number. Tell them you prefer to invest in a quality website and outstanding customer service for your existing clients. Ensure you have a highly detailed, informative website to answer customers' questions. Have fantastic email support if customers can't reach you easily via phone. Using a help desk like Desk.com, Helpjuice, Zendesk, or Kayako will ensure that your email correspondence is top-notch, and that requests don't go unanswered. Also, don't write off the phone entirely. If a customer requests a call back, or if you need to resolve issues that require personal attention, make sure to pick up the phone.

With the help of Advertising and social networking like facebook we can improve our sales and also attract the customers towards our product by providing information and offering what the want at a reasonable price