If your sales are drying up, then don't worry this happens to everyone at some point, you are not alone with this problem.  What's important is how you deal with it.

Running a business is very similar to riding a rollercoaster, it can be emotionally exhausting one minute then exhilarating the next.  Products and services all have life cycles which are unpredictable.  Customers change their minds all the time and are often looking for the next best thing.  Let alone what industry trends, viruses and recessions throw at you.  I've often found when my back is up against a wall, it's when I come up with my best ideas about growing my business. 

When sales are low it's hard not to take it personally.  It feels like people don't like us, they don't like what we do, and it could drag us into the depths of despair if we let it.  To stop this happening we take a break from the business for a few days, get our heads around the fact that we should expect low sales at times, then get our heads back into that space we were in when we first started out - then we can start planning.

Low Sales Are A Wake-Up Call

Having low sales, means we have more time which gives us the rare chance to re-look at things, to analyse what's going wrong but also what's going right, and to take action.  When you first started your business you didn't know it was going to be successful, but you had the drive and creativity to get it off the ground.  You simply need to put yourself back in that mind set, or the environment you started in to give you that boost to get things moving again.

Here are 6 things you can try to get your mojo back, and get those sales heading in the right direction.

1.  What can you control

Take some time with a person you trust and get it all off your chest.  Avoid focusing on the negatives and moaning, this won't help you.  If you speak positively or just look at the facts about what is happening it will give you the head space you need to see a way through this rough patch.  Worrying will just shut your mind down.

2.  Investigate all areas of your business with the view of making improvements

You should be able to find multiple things within each area of your business that you can improve.  Write a list of things that can be improved and how they could be done differently today.  If you have some people to bounce ideas off, even better.  You'll be amazed at the suggestions you'd never think about when you're business is hectic with sales.

3.  Take a look at your product or services

Try to look at your products or services with fresh eyes.  Get someone else's opinion, send a survey out to your customers getting some valuable feed back.  Read up on your industry trends to see if there is anything you've missed that you should be incorporating.  Does what you offer still reflect what people need.

4.  Take a deep dive into your advertising

How long have you been using the same old adverts? How could you reword your message, is the design dated and in need of a revamp.  Have you included features as well as benefits for each product or service.  Are you advertising in the right places, your customers may be migrating to different social media platforms.  Have the search engines updated algorithms so your website is falling behind the competition. 

This isn't something that should be left until it's a life or death situation.  You should have a rolling advertising and marketing campaign that is reviewed on a regular basis because technology is moving faster now then it has ever done before. 

Have you asked others if they are experiencing the same problems with falling sales and how they are dealing with it.

You could have the best thing on the planet, but if people don't know about it they can't buy it.  Get your website in order, find out what social media platforms, and search engines your target customer uses and start advertising and marketing to them.

5.  Look at your finances

Having a rolling budget is a very good idea.  Know what should be coming in and going out each month for as far into the future as possible, highlight when things might get tricky or when you ARE going to run out of money so you know in advance that you need to take positive actions to bring more sales in.  This gives you plenty of time to plan all your future advertising and marketing.

Look at all of your costs, can anything be reduced by switching to a new supplier.

Can you change your pricing to be more competitive.  Are there seasonal discounts in your industry you could take advantage of and offer them to your customers.

Is there a way you could supplement your income.

Don't fear recessions, often new businesses start during these difficult times by filling a space that has just been vacated or coming up with a new idea that changes the market.  As long as you stay focused, positive and proactive you will get through this and come out the other side a stronger happier person.

6.  Remind Your Customers You Exist

It is easier and cheaper to re-engage an existing audience then it is to go after a new audience.  Consider how you can connect with them again and build on the relationship you've established.  Remind people why they love you.  Newsletters can be a great place to start, as your customers would have signed up to receive them, so you know they want to hear from you.  Create content that is interesting, helpful and puts a smile on peoples faces.  Think about what sets you apart from others.

Doing something is better than doing nothing, do not fear making mistakes, each mistake is a lesson learned and gets you closer to what will work.  But remember there are lots of businesses going through exactly the same thing, and there isn't a business that hasn't had a difficult time at sometime in their past, and they will certainly have another difficult time in their future.

When things are slow, it gives you a chance to breath and refresh yourself so you can bring a new lease of life to your business.

If you need help revamping your website, or getting better results from the search engine results then don't hesitate contacting us now. 

by DRA Website Design & SEO Consultants

Further Reading:
Boost Your SEO Ranking And Why Small Businesses Should Do It

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