MANAGE SALES LIKE AN ENTREPRENEUR

42. Analyze which products lack in supply

After a few weeks to a few months since you started operation, you will already have a good idea on which products sell more and which products sell less. Simply analyze the sales report and sales data. If you see that a certain product is lacking in supply (always ends up as ‘out of stock’ because a lot of people are buying it), you should increase your order of that product. This is because customers get dissatisfied when they want to buy something and get told that the product they want is out of stock. It affects customer satisfaction.

43. Analyze which products are excessive in supply

The next time you resupply, you should order less of the items that are ‘excessive’ in supply (few people are buying it so there are always a lot of leftover in your inventory). In some cases, you may even have to remove that item from your list of products. Take note that unsold merchandise is bad for business. It will affect your sales because your investment in that unsold merchandise did not result in profit.

44. Re-analyze demographic of buyers of particular products

After a month or so of operation, you should start analyzing the demographic of the customers buying your products. These include age, gender, nationality, and such. This will help you make necessary changes. For example, if you originally perceived that your products will sell more to people between ages 16-29 and yet your second study revealed that your buying customers are between the ages of 14 to 40, you might want to increase your scope of advertisement and make some other changes.

45. Update future orders according to sales analysis

Your future orders of merchandise from your suppliers should not be based on guesswork. It should be influenced by current data you have with you - the sales report analysis. The idea is simple: order more of products that sell a lot and order less of products that sell less. Also, you should determine from the sales analysis which products are seasonal (sells well only during certain months of the year). In which case, you should order seasonal products only during their season.

46. Acquire supplies by consignment as much as possible

There are two ways of acquiring merchandise: 1) by purchasing and 2) by consignment. With consignment, you are taking possession of the products but you are not yet paying for them. And here is the juicy part - you will only pay for the sold products. As for the unsold products, you can return them to the supplier if you like. This way, you are not absorbing the losses resulting from the unsold merchandise. It is your supplier that will be absorbing the losses.

47. Limit orders of introductory products

At some point in time, you may want to introduce new items into your line of products. But do not get too excited so as to order one too many of the new item. Start with less. If everything gets sold, then try ordering more next time. If the new item keeps showing promise, it is by then that you can start ordering more. This is a precaution that professional entrepreneurs always take. This is done to prevent possible losses arising from unsold merchandise.

48. Do upselling effectively

Upselling is a marketing technique used by entrepreneurs to maximize sales. This is done by offering additional related products to customers that buy from you. For example, if a customer buys a digital camera from you, you can offer him to also buy related products such as memory cars, lenses, tripod stands, and such. It would be easier for them to agree to such offers because the products are related to the product they just bought.

49. Do cross selling effectively

Cross selling is just like upselling. It is done by offering customers to buy more than what they purchased. But in cross selling, you are offering a product that is not related to the one they purchased. For instance, if a customer bought a camera, offering him to buy an mp3 player is called cross selling. This is helpful if you are selling a variety of products that are not related to each other.