Even if your holiday sales broke all records, you’d probably still have some targets to meet in the days and weeks after the big day itself. Done right, post-Christmas sales aren’t just for the retail sector. They can help to generate revenue, boost cash flow and continue relationships with customers, whichever industry you work in. To get the most from this period, though, you need to have planned your tactics in advance.

First, decide on your goals. Will you try to sell something specific, or focus on a specific customer? For retail stores, the target is usually to shift any left over Christmas stock, ready for the new year. Ensure your targets are just as clear.

Next, create some unique offers that will attract customers. Unlike retailers, who have to compete on price, you could choose to offer demos, or adjust your payment terms. For big businesses, for example, allowing them to be billed later could be enough to get a sale.

Now it’s time to identify your contact. Who is the best person at the company to make your offer too? Do you already know them? How could you get introduced to them? Identify who has already bought from you, and who has expressed interest. This is a stage that is often forgotten in the post-Christmas haze, so you’ll get ahead if you think about it now.

Finally, be aware of any existing offers you have on. For example, you might already offer 60-days of support for free, or price-match competitors. Make sure that these won’t affect your post-Christmas deals, or end up making your prices cheaper than you wanted them.

Will you be running post-Christmas sales this year?

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Traditional high street shops are preparing to combat online retailers by using new mobile technologies in the run up to Christmas, according to an international commerce specialist.

High street retailers will use mobile apps to monitor customer behaviour and attempt to “steal” shoppers from rival stores. The news comes following industry predictions that online retailers are set to take £10 billion in the lead-up to Christmas for the first time ever, causing the high street to need to find new and exciting ways to protect their market share.

So what do technologies should sales people be telling their customers about?

Geolocation is definitely the most popular, and it’s an offering only a physical retailer can take advantage of. If a customer transmits their location to a retailer, the retailer can respond with nearby stores, deals and stock levels. They can let their customer know that their order is ready to collect, or that there are tables free. They can also entice nearby shoppers in-store by having flash sales, or sending exclusive offers with a certain radius.

Online competitions, mobile payment options and interactive shopping environments are other alternatives that savvy salespeople may be able to interest their customers in, especially just before such a crucial sales period.

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Speculations are rife that traditional salespeople will be a thing of the past as more and more businesses adopt advanced digital platforms to reach out to their customers. It is not the salespeople but in fact the traditional sales techniques that are fast becoming redundant in today’s technically advanced world.

As technology continues to shape the modern environment, it’s becoming obvious to sellers that they cannot attract customers by applying conventional sales methods.

The pressure to provide fast, reliable and competitive service is always on for the vendor. To stay ahead in the competition, sellers are constantly deploying resources and investing capital. Even though there is a good reason for doing this, sellers most often forget ‘it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it’ that makes all the difference.

So how can you use technology to your advantage?

Modernize: Companies that integrate marketing automation into their process-flows have a better competitive edge. These days, customers often make buying decisions based on their research online; this has made one-on-one selling an obsolete concept. But a salesperson that can study their customers’ buying patterns and learn how they are interacting with the brand will be able to offer more targeted solutions, and make more sales.

Personalised interaction: The best customer is the returning customer; this adage applies to all businesses. New business is good but it’s proved that the existing clientele is the main money-driving machine behind successful companies. After-sales interaction is just as important as pre-sale engagement. Sending automated updates via emails, web links, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media channels is vital for the growth of the business. Personalising these emails with the customer’s name and details about their birthday, even if done using automated services such as email HTML, is likely to increase sales.

Digital Marketing: The use of the web based applications to inform customers about upcoming events, exhibitions, and conferences have become standard. It gives the business the required visibility and creates brand recognition. Developing email campaigns and e-newsletters that can be circulated to customers on an ongoing basis helps in winning the client’s business, as well as keeps them interested in the company’s growth.

Effective use of CRM: Utilising a customer relationship management system is the absolute must in business nowadays. The ability to connect with consumers efficiently and in a timely manner is the key to running a successful company. It’s worth knowing a customer’s feedback in order to improve services and to enhance overall customer experience.

Sales as a profession is changing; it’s come of age, hence it’s important for salespeople to evolve with it. Technology has bestowed a very effective tool upon the modern workforce; it’s now up to us to use it effectively to drive successful businesses in this global marketplace.

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The technology boom has positively impacted retailers across the world and almost doubled their annual sales figures. A survey conducted by Deloitte showed some very powerful evidence to back this claim. Smartphones influence 5.1% of annual retail sales and this is just the start, trade pundits predict this figure will double in the coming years.

To engage with consumers, more and more sellers are adopting technology based services. The intention is to get more visibility and to reach a wider consumer base. Retailers who still follow conventional methods to make sales are quickly losing out and lagging behind.

Deloitte’s study suggests that 61% of smartphone owners use their phones to shop at stores and nearly 48% of smartphone users agreed that their phones influence their decision to buy a product. Using traditional methods of sale may help in retaining current clientele but it does not present the opportunity to attract new customers.

In this day and age, where everything is instant and at the tip of the consumer’s fingertips; technology backed techniques to drive sales are now the industry standard. To market a product or service to the right audience in less time, in the most cost effective manner has taken precedence over any other aspect of retail sales.

Sellers have started focusing on becoming more digitally advanced in order to increase their sales. Mobile shopping apps allow stores to get a substantial amount of business nowadays than any other method used previously. The research conducted by Deloitte confirmed that smartphone users who use shopping apps are more likely to convert and make a purchase in the store than non-smartphone users. The use of mobile phones is evidently influencing consumer behaviour. It is the right time when retailers are getting in and taking full advantage of this technology fuelled consumerism to push their sales even further. This trend will only see an upward movement with time. Deloitte forecasts that by 2016, total retail sales will grow by 19% due to use of smartphones by consumers for buying purposes.

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